Where Angels Fear to Tread
by PiperKierra
Summary: While working on a case for Castiel, Sam and Dean stumble into a joint investigation involving the FBI's BAU and NCIS. It's a race against time to bring members of their own teams home when things begin to unravel for them all.
1. Waking Nightmare

**Where Angels Fear to Tread**

_This is a crossover fic concentrating on NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Supernatural. All characters belong to their prospective owners. This is entirely for entertainment purposes. _

**Spoiler warnings:**_ NCIS season 7, Criminal Minds season 5, Supernatural season 6. There is a link to a promotional video for this story on my profile page._

**Rating:**_ T for violence and adult situations. _

**A/N:**___In an effort to give equal time to each series I'm trying to tell the story from the perspective of one show and its characters per chapter. I guess I'll see where it all goes though, Lol. I swear these stories sometimes have a mind of their own. Enjoy and please comment._

**Summary:**_ During a joint investigation, Tony, Abby, Sam, and Reid are all kidnapped supposedly by someone involved in the case that the NCIS and BAU are working on. Dean, Castiel and Bobby end up mixed up in the investigation that Castiel originally pulled Dean and Sam into because of a heavenly artifact and two missing angels. All three teams must work together in an effort to bring their own home as things all around them begin to unravel. ___

**Chapter One: Waking Nightmare**

"FBI is out." There was a huff of frustration in his tone as Dean adjusted the phone between his shoulder and ear awkwardly, while steering. "Nah Bobby, luck only takes you so far…this is Quantico." It seemed self explanatory. Walking into the home office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation pretending to be an FBI agent was ludicrous. Hell, setting foot in the state of Virginia wasn't high on Dean's list at the moment.

Bobby finally suggested posing as Private Detectives. They had to find a way to insert themselves into an ongoing joint investigation in Quantico and posing as either of the agencies already involved was a risk that Dean wasn't willing to take. He'd just gotten Sam semi back to normal; he wasn't going to lose him to prison or worse, not now. If he'd had his wish they wouldn't be hunting at all but Sam couldn't stand the idea and Dean had a feeling he knew why. It was the same principle as trying to make up for torturing souls in hell for Dean. Sam felt he had a lot to make up for.

Speak of the devil. "Yeah Bobby, thanks, I'll tell Sam." Dean cut the conversation short when Sam's call interrupted with an echoing bleep.

Dean took the next right, a since of relief that he was only fifteen minutes short of a cold brew and a shower washing over him.

"Anything?" Dean answered the phone abruptly. He'd left Sam at the room to scour the internet while he'd headed to library for copies of the local paper that they couldn't get online. This whole case was already leaving a bad taste in his mouth and it wasn't just because everyone was coming up with little to nothing.

Sam had had his soul back for all of fifteen minutes and they were sticking their necks on the line because Cas had a bad lead on one of the missing artifact from Heaven's depleted store houses. There was a part of Dean that hoped it turned out to be nothing, that it was a burnt run. Sam needed a real break, a little time. Dean could see it in his eyes. He never talked about it, but his conscience had to make up for its absence and there was over a year worth of sociopathic hunting that Sam had to face.

He'd admitted that he'd done things, things that Dean wouldn't approve of, that Dean couldn't even imagine and Dean believed him, especially after he'd nearly killed Bobby in an attempt to sully his body enough to make it uninhabitable to his soul. Sam hadn't wanted to deal with the risks if receiving a soul in tatters. But he had it and all the pain that had been wrought on it was buried behind a wall in his mind. That wall had its limits but it was working for now. Now, Dean just wished that he could spare him from what soulless Sam had done. It was eating away at Sam, making Dean wonder just how bad things had gotten in that year that Sam had been back and hunting without him.

"A little," Sam's tone suggested that the little he found wasn't going to be very helpful. Sam didn't need to wait for an invitation he promptly began to fill him in as quickly as possible, his voice sounding worn around the edges. Sam had been exhausted since his soul's return, his body trying to make up for over a year without sleep. It didn't seem to matter how much sleep he got, he always looked and acted like he needed more. "Aubrey Grant was reported missing in Fort Lauderdale last May, where she disappeared while out on a jog. She was a devout Christian, with a heavy hand in community services." Sam was beating around the bush, but the insinuation was clear to Dean.

"She Angeled up," Dean clarified.

"Looks that way," Sam cleared his throat and sniffed. He'd been courting a cold for the better part of a week. It seemed like his whole system was in shock from the return of what should never had been separated from him. "So she doesn't pop up again until Scarborrough when her body was found in the middle of a burned out corn field with a charred 18 ft wing span protruding from her torso, at least the outline of it. So did Cas say anything about the Angel?"

"Nayada" Dean nodded as though Sam could see him.

"Wait… No? Or was Nayada her name?"

"Nayada was her name," a half smile lit Dean's lips. He'd asked Castiel the same thing. "He said she was looking into the disappearance of that other guy, ya know the one that he sent to look for that jewel."

"Valdin was looking for King Solomon's Emerald." Sam cleared up the names for Dean with a chuckle. Dean could hear his typing in the background as if he was looking up another something so that he could tell him more.

"Right," Dean scoffed a little worried that Castiel hadn't been very forth coming with what the emerald did. He seemed to think that it wasn't so much the emerald as Valdin and Nayada had stumbled onto something unexpectedly.

"Did Cas say why he didn't think it was the Emerald causing the deaths here?" 

"No, but I plan to have a one on one with him. I feel like we're going into this blind."

"Not completely. It's a good thing that Valdin was protective of his vessel's family. He left us with a few human traces to track. I'm working on his last few calls and locations, trying to pin down some sort of timeline for his disappearance before he died. If we can figure out where he was for the 2 days before he died we might get some sort of clue on where to go from here." Sam sounded winded when he finally took a breath and Dean furrowed his brow worriedly.

"I'm almost there. We can go over the copies I made at the library after I relax a little." Dean didn't see the need to put a rush on anything.

"All right, I'm almost finished with the last trace. I'll try and put together a time line." Sam yawned over the phone.

"Why don't you take a break too, Sammy?" Dean couldn't help but sound like the overprotective brother he was becoming again, not that he ever really quit. There was a soft scoff over the phone. The next sound, though, sent cold terror racing up Dean's spine. Gone was Sam's soft breath against the mic, gone the subtle sounds of rustling paper and typing, gone was all but a muffled cry and the resounding thud of the phone hitting the carpet.

"Sam?" Dean pulled the phone away from his ear when there was a sudden lapse of silence. It was still connected so he quickly tucked it back between his shoulder and ear, while simultaneously flooring the accelerator. He was picking up sound again, but what he heard was anything but reassuring. There was one hell of a fight going on. He just hoped that Sam had the upper hand.

Dammit, He was still a few minutes out. 3 minutes. That's all he needed. 3 Minutes! Dean swore under his breath as the fight seemed to be dying down but Sam hadn't returned to tell him that he was alright. He heard a hushed voice, but it wasn't Sam's.

Dean felt his heart sinking fast, nearly as fast as the car was moving when he finally pulled into the motel parking lot. He barely had his baby in park when he sprang from the car towards their room, the door cracked open just enough for the light of the room to escape against the moonlit front walk. Dean threw the door open and froze just inside the frame.

God no.

The struggle from earlier was vividly highlighted in shades of broken chairs and busted mirrors, all scattered across the beds and floor as if painting a video recap to go with the audio still seared into his brain. Dean regained some measure of composure – enough to search the room, but Sam was nowhere to be found.

A trail of blood soaked into the carpet below the table caught his attention and Dean felt like his whole world was threatening to collapse as he knelt down to retrieve Sam's phone. Dean palmed the blood stained device and rose to his feet. There was only one word on his lips…just one.

"Cas!" he wanted answers and he wanted them now.

OoOoOoOoO

Waking was agony. His head was thundering to the beat of a growing storm, the swollen black clouds holding his tongue, muscles caught in the molasses downpour, making movement a far reaching goal. His vision danced and holding his eyes open became impossible under the pain it wrought. The thunder rolled like an engine coupled with rubber against asphalt and then gravel, dirt, clod and bumpy, the hum of the lightning reverberating through him like vibrations from a swiftly moving vehicle.

Somewhere in the confusion Sam realized that he was moving, via trunk towards a destination but the effects of whatever the drug coursing through his body had him addled to a fault. He was trying to catalogue, to somehow remember each waking heartbeat, but the moments slipped through his grasps like sand through his fingers. In the end he was lost to the dark of unconscious over and over.

He wasn't sure when the storm ended, tapering into something more akin to sleep. The dreams began to bleed, morphing phantoms of shadows that swam away from conscious thought, lost on the cusp of waking. Sam jolted awake, sitting straight up, palms flush against the soft chenille comforter he'd been laid out on. Confusion furrowed his brow as he looked to the soft fabric, caste in hues of baby blue, white sheet peaking from the edges near a pillow of the same.

The whole room was bright, morning light filtering in through sky lights towering at least 15 feet overhead. Stark white walls surrounded him, but there was nothing claustrophobic about the room, save a lack of windows. Sam's alcove was set against the East wall, at least he assumed East from what he could tell about the rising sun. There was a bed, twin sized, with a simple metal headboard and footboard all painted white to keep with a disturbingly clinical feel to the place. A nightstand with a lamp and alarm clock rested to the left of the bed and next to it was a six shelf bookcase filled with books. Framed pictures of highway hotspots in black and white decorated the walls around him.

Sam arched a brow, swallowing tightly. Strange was taking a vacation and Absurd had been coaxed into filling in. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, bare feet meeting plush mocha carpet. Sam looked down in surprise and found his attention drawn to the black sweats and white t-shirt he was now wearing. What the…?

This was not a typical kidnapping.

What worried him the most was that the set up looked like he was expected to stay for an extended amount of time. Sam swallowed tightly searching where his alcove seemed to meet a larger central room. Across from him and the central room was another alcove set in a different color scheme and adornments with a sleeping man on the twin bed of similar make and model. As he approached the central sitting area, where a table and four chairs rested he noticed two more alcoves, smaller, but still plenty cozy, both set side by side along the larger south wall with a simple wall set between as if to give the occupants privacy from each other.

Each of those beds also had an occupant, one female, the other male. Sam explored further seeing a few doors along the north wall. Panic was setting in but he had already pushed it back down, banking on any clear thinking he could muster. He didn't know who any of these sleeping people were, where he was at or why and that made things difficult at best. He hurried towards the farthest door, a sturdy wooden door that appeared to lead out of the room. It was solid, reinforced with a metal frame and there was no knob of any sort, on the inside. He knelt, fighting off a wave of dizziness to inspect the small space between where the door would latch and the imposing frame.

There was barely any light to see and the fit was tight a precaution that only made Sam even more alarmed. These weren't amateurs, assuming there was more than one, which was a likely assumption considering the elaborate make of the room and the effectiveness of the kidnapping. There just wasn't enough to go on. Castiel was supposed to fill them in more once he'd taken care of something skyward. Sam wasn't even able to really remember what had happened in the motel room to lead him here, save there was a struggle and the guy was behind him. Had to be guy based on size and strength, possibly supernatural but it wasn't an angel or a demon, the struggle wouldn't have lasted as long.

Sam let out a measured breath and rose looking to see if there were any visible hinges on the door. There weren't. He slid his hand up the frame, looking it up and down. Any hinges had to embedded in a protective frame and it felt even more solid than the door. "Dammit." He swore under his breath and took a step back looking over to the other door. It looked as though it led into a closet, but was soon found to be a bathroom, complete with toilet, sink, and shower. No mirror. There were four tooth brushes set in a holder on the sink and what looked like all the toiletries four people could need for at least two weeks if they used them conservatively.

Things weren't looking up.

A stirring groan caught Sam's attention before he could explore the bathroom further. What made everything even more unsettling was the fact that there were three other people in the other room and he had no idea who they were or why they were here. He swallowed the knot forming in his throat and cracked the door, peering out just enough that he could see who was stirring. He had to play this carefully. There was no telling what was going on, for now though he had to play it like they were civilians and that all of them were in danger.

Sam arched an eyebrow from his perch behind the door when he noticed that the only girl in the room had awoken in her alcove and was quite animatedly getting to her feet, waking in what seemed like a panic. "Timmy…" Her voice was soft, slightly slurred, and questioning. By her stagger and frame he could guess that she was metabolizing whatever had been given to them much slower than he had. Sam pushed the door open slowly, trying not to alarm her. "What did you do with him?" She honed in on him quickly, confusion fraught emerald eyes searching over his form with fear filled questioning.

"I didn't do anything to anyone." That was a lie in the long run but for whatever she was talking about, he was relatively sure that he was telling the truth. "I woke up here, just like you." Sam raised his arms in an 'I come in peace,' gesture, trying to seem as harmless as possible. "Look at our clothes…" He motioned to his t-shirt and sweats to his bare feet then gave a nod in her direction meaning for her to take a look at her own black sweats and burgundy tee. "I woke up there." Sam motioned to his now empty alcove. "I was just looking around. There are two others in here." He motioned for her to come closer but kept his distance not wanting to break any forming trust by advancing on her. "Maybe one of them is this guy you were asking about?" He slowly motioned towards the other two alcoves.

He could see the distrust in her eyes, her features, but he kept his distance as she moved to get a look, she stepped around the wall that separated her hovel from the one next to it and Sam saw her brow furrow as she looked over the tall lanky form. She didn't know him. "My name's, Sam." He offered softly. She angled her neck to peer over her shoulder back at him briefly before she turned her attention towards the other alcove.

"Abby." She whispered, her own name hard to get out. She was practically shivering in fear and Sam almost took a step towards her to offer some sort of comfort, but her gaze had just fallen on the other man and suddenly she broke into a mad dash for him. Maybe that was the guy she'd been asking about?

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod." Just when Sam thought that the three word mantra was going to endure forever she broke it off as she sank to her knees next to the army green and black clad figure on the bed and began to shake him mercilessly. "Tony! Pleasebealright, bealright, pleasepleaseplease." Well she knew him, but he wasn't the guy she'd been asking about.

Tony…Anthony, whatever his name actually was bolted upright as anyone would had they just been scared awake on top of an already confusing and terror ridden situation and nearly beamed Abby in the head, swerving at the last moment to avoid a head to head collision. "Abby…" His voice was choked with alarm. "What are you doing…?" Sam assumed that the next word that the guy was looking for was 'here,' but he was quickly picking up that here wasn't anything familiar to him.

That in itself was another clue. It seemed like at least 3 out of 4 of them had all been snatched at or around the same time. Sam watched them carefully seeing how Abby was looking Tony over as if to make sure that he wasn't injured a deep concern for his well being showing just how much they meant to each other. Maybe he'd misunderstood her early; she could have said Tony, not Timmy. Hell what did it matter right now?

"What's going on?" Tony asked more reserved as he rose to his feet and quickly angled his body so that he was shielding Abby, putting himself in between her and Sam.

"I'm trying to understand that myself. My name's Sam." Sam explained quickly. "I just woke up about five minutes ago. There are four of us. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you two know each other, but I don't think any of us are familiar with the other sleeper over there." Sam motioned to the guy that had yet to wake. "So far no one has made any contact from outside this room, so I'm just as lost as you guys."

"That's comforting. I'm Tony, wish I could say it was nice to meet you."

"No offense taken." Sam smirked as though it would help put them at ease, but it wasn't making him feel any better at all.

"Well it looks too clean to be a _Saw_ sort of deal." There was a note of relief in Tony's voice but Abby wapped his shoulder. "Hey." He looked over his shoulder at her in confusion.

"I don't even want to think about that sort of maniacal sick twisted…"

"We get it…" Tony cut her off. "Sorry Abs. I'm sure everything is going to be Ok." He met Sam's eyes, sharing a moment on instinct that they might just have to trust on each other by default and both of them knew that Ok wasn't on the menu.

OoOoOoOoO

**Next Chapter:** Perspective – NCIS. Exploring what the team knows about the case as they stumble onto the fact that two of their own are missing. Tony and Abby discover more about why they are being held and what is expected of them. The captives meet the last to wake. I'll try and post updates once a week.


	2. Fraternization

**Where Angels Fear to Tread**

**Then: **_Sam and Dean are working a case for Castiel, trying to help him find out what happened to some angels who were looking for an artifact from heaven. Both Angels have been found dead in Virginia. They had little to go on. While on the phone with Dean, Sam is kidnapped and awakens to find himself in a room with three other captives and no way out._

**Now: **_Switching perspectives to the NCIS we find that they have been asked to work under the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit to help catch a serial killer who has killed at least one marine. Meanwhile, Tony and Abby recount what happened when they were kidnapped and try to find answers to what is to become of them._

**A/N**_: Thank for the reviews __ I hope that everyone enjoys this next installment. Check out the promo video at_.com/watch?v=FXh7OnrAe4Y

**Chapter Two: Contact**

It was the ding of the elevator that roused him fully. He'd been drifting down a twilight garble of wispy half dreams all intertwined with the facts of the case, or lack thereof. Timothy McGee quickly wiped the sleep from his eye, catching a swiftly approaching Gibbs. Gibbs gave Ziva a cursory glance seeing that she was on the phone. She looked from Gibbs to the phone all while keeping up with the conversation with unwavering concentration despite the sleep deprivation that they were all suffering from.

McGee didn't have to be watching Gibb's to know the moment that his attention shifted to him. "McGee?" Gibbs called expectedly.

McGee glanced at his screen and the report he'd been working on, trying to jog his memory as to what he'd been working on when he'd dabbled in the idea of exhaustion. "Lance Corporal David Harris made 48 phone calls of which 37 have been traced to 32 different cities in 14 different countries. We're still working on the other 11." By 'We' McGee meant himself and Penelope Garcia of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. "It passes suspicion that Harris was an accomplice turned victim rather than just a victim. While all the other victims have been missing for over two years, Harris was the only one making phone calls."

"Last known?" Gibbs narrowed his eyes in a 'Why did I have to ask?' sort of glare and McGee cleared his throat, quickly thumbing through the information.

"Scarborough, just short of mile marker 5 on Huntington Lane," McGee rushed out.

"Start calling anyone that might have seen him from where he made the calls and find out what he was doing." Gibb's headed back to his desk but turned at the last minute. "Get Ducky on the plasma first."

"You got it, Boss." McGee punched a few buttons and Ducky appeared in the upper left corner via camera feed.

"Duck, have you got a murder weapon yet?" Dr. Mallard had been having trouble pinning down the sort of weapon that had been used on all five victims. He'd found the stabbing mechanism to be rather blunt and narrower at its point of entry, widening toward a grip of some sort. He likened it to a handled knife sharpener from a kitchen block set. Yet so far no one had been able to find a make and model that fit the wound patterns.

"I'm remiss to say that I do not." Ducky looked about as perplexed as McGee had ever seen him. This case was taking its toll on all of them. "We're about to start testing a new batch of kitchen utensils." Ducky held up a rounded knife sharpener as if to emphasize the point.

"Let me know when you have something." There was no way to hide the frustration in Gibbs' voice.

Bafflement was meant for the little leagues.

"Of course," Ducky replied just before McGee cut the feed.

It began 24 hours previous. The FBI's BAU had already been working on a case involving four bodies, only one of which was found locally. The only reason they were able to connect the other three to it was dumb luck. One of the interns had noticed the wing pattern on the board and recalled a newspaper article from his home town nearly 429 miles away. When the FBI checked into it they were convinced that it was the same unsub. It wasn't until the fifth body popped up that NCIS was called in. As the BAU had already begun the initial investigation NCIS was providing the support.

NCIS had taken lead with the local victims coordinating with agents Morgan, Rossi, and Reid while agents Hotchner, Prentiss, and Jareau worked in Kingston, Tennessee to find out about the other three victims and any other helpful information that could aide them. Garcia and McGee had been working closely to coordinate between the two teams, making sure that they all had the most up to date information.

"Ziva?" McGee looked up to see Ziva was now free from the phone and rising to report to Gibbs.

"SSA Morgan has informed me that the agents in Kingston are on their way home with the bodies and forensics. They are also reporting that there was some sort of explosion in the surrounding area where the third victim was found. They are bringing samples for Abby to test for a cause."

"They couldn't determine what caused the explosion?" Gibbs sounded exasperated.

McGee closed his eyes with a shake of his head. They were all feeling the strain. Things weren't adding up on a global scale. It was as if they were all missing a puzzle piece and no one knew where to look to find it.

"It is not considered normal for an explosion, more like an electrical burp." Ziva flicked her fingers out and separated her hands outward and upward as if trying to give an illustration.

"Burst," McGee corrected her on instinct and she nodded as Gibbs took the new information into stride.

"An EMP?" Gibbs asked for clarification.

"No, there was still power in the immediate area, the circuitry was unharmed. The blast radius is said to be very confined with minimal damage. They are bringing the original crime scene photos…" Ziva looked as confused as the rest of them, but the prospect of solving the mystery lit her eyes the moment she mentioned the photos.

"Go over to the BAU and see what you come up with." Gibbs nodded reading her desire instantly. "I want to know the minute you can identify what caused that explosion."

"Yes, Sir," Ziva hurried to her desk and grabbed her gear hurrying towards the elevator.

"Ziva," Gibbs caught her on the way out. She turned and glanced back waiting patiently. "Call Tony and get him to meet you over there. He's had plenty of time for a shower."

"Yes, Sir," She smiled at the insinuation that Tony was laying down on the job and promptly resumed her exit.

Without another word Gibbs headed towards the back elevator with purpose. He must have been on his way to Abby. McGee let out a measured breath, looking back to his screen so that he could help track down those last calls. He'd no sooner gotten back to it then Garcia popped up on his screen in video chat. "I see you're finally back at it, Sleeping Beauty."

McGee gave her a half hearted grin, lack of sleep pushing him to the edge of crankiness. "I just finished reporting. You catch anything while I was out?" They had taken a vow to give each other a little break to somehow rejuvenate. Garcia had used hers to run home for a shower and grab some coffee. McGee had fallen asleep at his desk.

The shower as a refresher seemed to be popular as a lack of sleep consolation prize. Tony had been gone for nearly two hours and Abby…McGee broke off in mid thought as he realized that he hadn't heard from Abby in hours. She'd been headed back to his place to enjoy the new massaging shower head that he'd just installed. Surely she was back. Gibbs rarely missed when she was ready for him.

Abby had been running some blood samples from the victims and ran into some problems with an element that major mass spec couldn't identify. She'd traced it to a form of carbon, but was still baffled. She set up another test batch and hurried to grab what little clarity a shower and Caf-pow would provide.

"I just finished all the traces." Garcia lured his attention back to her with a growing grin. That grin soon began to dwindle though as realization that having all 48 locations was just another needle ridden haystack that needed to be gone through. "I'm sending you a copy of the list."

"Thanks. Tony and Ziva are on their way there, they can help call if there aren't any new leads." McGee could only guess that there weren't. Garcia would have let him know if there were. "I'll start at the bottom and work my way up."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll let the others know where to start, the great and powerful Oz, out." Her video chat window closed just as foot falls fell heavy from behind him and McGee turned just in time to catch Gibbs in his peripheral.

McGee knew instantly that he should be worried.

"Where's Abby?" Gibbs was wavering somewhere between anger and concern.

"She went to grab a shower and a change of clothes." McGee swallowed tightly. Gibbs frowned deeply and walked to his desk. Gibbs picked up the phone and quickly dialed out, standing stark still as he waited for someone to pick up on the other end. McGee waited on pins and needles until Gibbs slammed the phone down and looked back at him fear furrowed in his brow.

"Find her…" Gibbs ended up at McGee's back, looking over his shoulder.

"I'll track her phone and the Hot rod." McGee's fingers worked their rapid fire magic as he quickly went about locating her via GPS – well locating her phone and car. In a matter of seconds he had the physical address for both. Unfortunately, Gibbs had the address the moment that he did.

There was a moment of silence.

A mere moment for McGee to get a flash of every way humanly possible that Gibbs could end his life.

"Your apartment?" There was an unmistakable hint to get the answer right rigid in Gibbs' tone.

"Sh…she wanted to try my new shower head." McGee was already grabbing his keys, ready to go check on her when he realized just how that sounded. It wasn't just how awkward this looked, that Abby knew about his new shower head to begin with. It was the fact that she knew about the new shower because she spent most her time there nowadays. It was the fact that they were a couple and hadn't told anyone yet. It was the fact that Gibbs was the last person that he wanted to know how much he was falling in love with her.

But what scared him more than anything, even more than Gibbs finding out about them was that Gibbs was scared for her and if Gibbs was scared then there was reason for it, his uncanny spidy sense permeated the entire dynamics of the team, especially where Abby was concerned. He had to know something more though…something. Gibbs didn't react like this just because she wasn't in her lab.

"Ziva called. Tony's apartment has been tossed. He's missing. She found his cell next to his car – outside." Gibbs explained as if reading his mind on the way to the elevator. McGee felt his heart taking a nose dive into the pit of his stomach. Oh God. There was far too little to go on to assume that it wasn't related to the case that they were working on and look what had happened to the other victims...

OoOoOoOoO

"I'm not dead yet," Tony let out a chuckle making a face in an effort to resemble the old man that was slung over the younger's shoulder in a poster immortalizing Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He quickly lost his smile though as dead pan expressions met with little amusement over the movie quote. "It's from the movie."Tony pointed at the poster that was hung in his bacheloresque alcove but it didn't garner him any forgiveness. Finally, he straightened and cleared his throat. "Though I can see where it might be inappropriate." Geez, ok so he wasn't going to be lightening the mood in here any time soon.

They had been hashing out the likelihood that the kidnapping was related to the case once Dr. Reid woke and Tony realized that he was part of the BAU's team that they had been coordinating with. Dr. Reid was just trying to compose himself so that he could be more help. Currently he was sitting at the central table with his head in his hands fighting a wave of nausea from whatever he'd been drugged with.

"What I don't understand is if we're NCIS and he's FBI then who are you?" Abby was the one that asked it, turning from where she had been inspecting her little black and red gothic alcove of wonder. It was a fair question considering the circumstances. They all had something in common except for this one guy. She narrowed her eyes inspecting the one that had introduced himself as 'Sam'. Tony had been wondering that himself but was taking a moment to inspect this place, look for ideas on how to get them all out.

So far he had jack squat. They were in the perfect rat trap. Tony shrugged to himself thoughtfully. At least it was a nice, semi comfortable rat trap. They had their own alcoves that were like little odes to each persona's favorite things, most of the comforts of home. They had beds and carpet and bathroom facilities. It almost looked like someone was trying to make them feel welcome, save the whole kidnapped by forced and drugs thing.

Tony turned from his movie shrine, complete with a shelf full of DVDs and a TV/DVD combo embedded in the wall to look at the nonfederal agent, who seemed to be having trouble composing his answer. "It's a fair question. We're just trying to find out why all four of us were kidnapped. You don't seem to fit the pattern." Abby had crossed her arms over her chest waiting impatiently.

"I'm a private investigator." He finally answered with a deep sigh. "I was hired by Lewis Grant, Aubrey's husband. I've been looking for her for over six months, ever since the case went cold. The family doesn't put much stock in law enforcement anymore." Sam explained finally.

Tony wrinkled his nose. He could understand that, especially if the local authorities couldn't give them any sort of reasonable explanation, but still something was off.

Abby's mouth fell open as though she had been offended to no end and Tony could tell Sam was about to get a defensive reprimand. "Just because the local law enforcement can't hack it doesn't mean that the rest of us are inept forensic robot monkeys, not that monkeys aren't smart, some of them are smarter than people I know…" and there was the classic downward spiral of tangent jumping that Abby was so great at.

"Abby…" Tony steered her gently with his voice and she refocused her attention, making eye contact once more, until…

"Statistically, if monkey's possessed brains of equal size to humans…" Dr. Reid raised his head to make the comment, but Tony quickly cut him off with a roll of his eyes.

"Enough with the monkeys," He turned to Sam trying to get everyone back around to where they had been. "So you were investigating Aubrey's death?"

"I was investigating her disappearance." Sam corrected him. "I just found out that she was dead a day before I was kidnapped."

Tony nodded slowly. It sounded plausible. The BAU informed the family about the same time. It wasn't like he had the ability to do any fact checking though. "Well I guess I'll just have to take your word for it. Do you have anything that Mr. Grant didn't share with the FBI? Any new leads?"

"I'm not really sure what he shared with the FBI, but I can go over what I know about it." He offered quickly, though Tony noticed his cheek twitched. He narrowed his eyes wondering why that seemed like such a tell. "Aubrey was a 3rd grade teacher for 7 years. She was well liked in her community and church. She had two children and a good marriage. She was the kind of person that revered God and all he stood for and wasn't ashamed to share that with others. And she disappeared without a trace from a local jogging path half a mile from her suburban dream, leaving her husband and two children without a wife and mother. She wasn't spotted, heard from, or seen again until her death three days ago. At least that's what I thought."

Now Dr. Reid was interested, as was Tony. Reid rose to his feet next to Tony and smoothed out his navy T-shirt that made him seem even lankier, next to Tony's muscular frame. Tony narrowed his eyes imploring Sam to go on, when he didn't he prodded him vocally. "What do you mean?"

"There was an internet article from a local paper in Kingston, Tennessee. It's a week old, but the picture looked like her." Sam looked confused as though he was trying to work it out in his mind as he was retelling it. "It was in connection to a string of pump and run incidents, they took a shot of a local seven eleven and I swear she was walking through the shot."

That hit a nerve. Why was he looking through local papers for Kingston for a missing person from Fort Lauderdale? Tony was just about to ask him that when Abby suddenly let out a flustered bordering on terrified "Oh. My. God."

Tony turned in alarm wondering if she had found something more disturbing than, well, being kidnapped with no certain outcome save that all the other victims seemed to have been kept for two years and then killed. "What?" he concern turned to confusion when he realized that she was smoothing her shirt down over her stomach in mortal terror. There was a flash reference from the movie _Aliens _before he shook his mind back to the moment at hand.

"I'm wearing a red shirt."

"Right. I'm wearing a green one and he's wearing a blue one…and if I'm not mistaken that one's white." Tony was beginning to wonder if Abby was still suffering from the effects of the drugs, or maybe having a nervous breakdown.

"Nononononono." Abby immediately began to pull at her shirt as if she was about to pull it over her head. "Someone trade with me…come on…please…wait no, if you trade than I'll get you killed."

Tony paled worriedly as she discarded the shirt and stood before them in a red sports bra and black sweats. Why in the hell she was so concerned with the color of her shirt. And then it hit him. God. StarTrek. "Abby, this is ridiculous." Reid looked away trying to give her some privacy and Sam was just watching them all curiously with a twinge of worry heavy in his eyes.

"No it's not. The only safe thing to do is for no one to wear the red shirt." In Abby's mind some TV folklore made up for the lack of information that they had as though she was clinging to any mythos that she could for their safety.

"Take this one; I'll wear the red one. Then you'll be able to debunk the myth and we can get over it, alright?" Tony pulled his green shirt off and tossed it to her while moving to grab the smaller one that she had discarded. He pulled it on, the fabric so tight that he couldn't cover his stomach completely. He fought to take a breath and looked back at her like she was losing it.

"Tony, you can't…"

"Yes, I can, because the moment we start basing our survival on Star Trek myths, we might as well kiss our asses goodbye." Tony's tone cut Abby to the quick and she drew silent as she dragged the shirt over her head, camo green engulfing her.

It was Reid that began to move them all passed it as though the adrenaline and lunacy of the moment had snapped them all back to crystal clarity. "You said that you found the article for a local Kingston site. What led you there?" Reid asked curiously.

"Honestly." Sam took a measured breath and shifted his gaze peaking Tony's attention once more. If he could read him a little easier he might have guessed that he wasn't divulging everything and that the moment he said 'Honestly,' he was comfortable with lying, but it was only a hunch for now. "I got an anonymous e-mail. I was following her death to Virginia when it came in."

"Well when get out of here Abby or Garcia can track down where it came from, I'm sure." Tony piped in glad to have some way to iterate that were indeed getting out of here, at least the optimistic perspective that they were.

"So you're not an agent?" Sam asked Abby, though it was written on his face that he already knew the answer to the question. Tony inferred that he was either trying to get her attention away from panicking, though he knew once she got over it she would be back to normal.

"Forensic scientist." She replied without meeting his eyes.

The whole room grew eerily silent as the natural light seemed dwarfed by a growing presence long before the creak signified that the door was being opened. Tony felt tendrils of ice crawling up his spine and while he wanted to turn, wanted to look, wanted to see this monster, wanted to see what lie beyond their rat trap, while he wanted to rush the bastard, while he wanted to protect Abby and this PI and the nerd from the BAU, while he wanted to do all these things, he couldn't seem to get that memo to the rest of his body.

He was straining to move, God, just to crane his neck. Perspiration dotted his brow, dripping in a single droplet aside his ear as he fought to use his peripheral to see, his mind racing at what could be causing this temporary paralysis. Soon it wasn't just his body that wouldn't respond, trying to string together a complete thought became like trying to crawl through thigh deep mud. He was fighting to just stay conscious.

It was a fight that he lost.

OoOoOoOoO

Ok so from here on out I have to change perspectives a little more frequently then every chapter. But, I will let you guys know with the usual OoOoOoOoO divider. My main perspective for next chapter will be Criminal minds but there are a few things with Supernatural and NCIS that I need to bring up

Sooooo. If you value the life of Plot Bunnies please review


	3. Bend or Break

**Where Angels Fear to Tr ead**

**Then:** _Dean called Castiel in an attempt to find out more about what he asked him and his brother to look into once he realized that Sam had been kidnapped. The NCIS was looking into Tony and Abby's disappearance while trying to find out just why the case seems to be turning out no leads. Meanwhile, the kidnapped got to know each other a little before Tony was rendered unconscious just as the door to their comfy cell was opened._

**Now:** _The BAU learns of the NCIS abductions and rushes to check on their own staff only to find that Dr. Reid is unaccounted for. Dean gets his powwow with Cas. Tony finds out what it's all about and it's not the Hokey Pokey._

**Chapter Three: Bend or Break**

"_Some days it is a heroic act just to refuse the paralysis of fear and straighten up and step into another day_." – **Edward Albert**

The board was taunting them, the files mocking, the unsub was out there and they had little to nothing connecting a handful of murders over two states. The victims were scattered even farther, had disappeared from five different states and had only a devout religious fervor to connect them to one another. To say that they were missing a piece of the puzzle was the understatement of the century.

Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner leaned back in his chair as he sat alone at the round table searching the board for clues that he knew had to be there somewhere. The team was working overtime, neglecting even the basic need of sleep save some rotating schedule that had someone working the case at all times. He wasn't even sure if Garcia had left her office.

What he did know was there was one very smart killer with habitual patterns that they couldn't narrow down yet. He traveled but in no discernable connection to any occupational field. Thus the team felt that he might be independently wealthy and not employed. The kills themselves involved a struggle signifying that he gave the victims a chance to fight for their lives or at least the illusion that they had a fighting chance.

This type of fight gave rise to the idea that they were dealing with a Psychotic individual whose delusion may be a fight of Good vs. evil. If the victims were angels then perhaps he cast himself in the role of a demon. Yet even with all of this it was useless if they had no one to pitch the profile to. Scarborough was the last known kill zone but with him changing kill zones at least once there was no proof that he was still in Virginia.

What they had was a nightmare, an incredibly intelligent psychotic with substantial wealth and the capability to move his victims over long distances. What made him even more dangerous was the fact that he was charismatic enough to incorporate others into his delusion as he had with Harris. Harris was thought to be a victim who bought into the unsub's delusions and thus became his accomplice.

"I've found something." SSA Derek Morgan poked his head around the doorframe with a light knock before entering the room upon seeing that Hotch wasn't in the middle of anything. Hotch gave a simple nod as a go for him to fill him in. "I noticed similar reports from Scarborough and Kingston. Locals around the area where the bodies were found all said that they smelled something like BarBQ in the air when they were out working on the day of the kill."

Hotch set his chair right, sitting up as he leaned forward. Morgan had certainly gotten his attention, but he wasn't sure where he was going with this. "Even the officers on the scene said that there was lingering burn smell to the air when they were conducting their original investigation. We first attributed it to the char for the wings pattern."

SSA and Media Liaison Jennifer Jareau a.k.a. JJ hurried in after Morgan with a file in hand. She laid it on the table and slid it across to Hotch. "Scarborough P.D. checked the surrounding area once more and this is what they found." Hotch noticed that JJ was looking a little pale as she averted her eyes from the file.

Morgan picked back up for her. "It's a 10 x 15 foot pit, 7 feet deep with the charred remains of twelve individuals. The Kingston P.D. is out checking the scenes of the other murders. Garcia is running missing persons from Scarborough and the surrounding area, but…"

Hotch swallowed the knot forming in his throat as he looked from the blackened skeletons in the hole and then up to Morgan. "We have no idea where he got the victims from."

They all shared a moment of dread as the implication sank in, but didn't get a chance to develop the idea further as SSA Emily Prentiss walked into the room with Rossi on her heals as well as agents Gibbs, David, and McGee from the NCIS.

Hotch rose to his feet respectfully and offered his hand to their team leader. "Special Agent Gibbs." Pleasantries weren't in the forecast for today.

"Two of my team are missing, abducted." Gibbs was quick to get to the point, time obviously a factor. "Are all of yours accounted for?"

SSA David Rossi shook his head at Hotch. "Reid went home to get some sleep. He's running late coming back in, but I thought he needed it."

"I'll get him on the phone." Morgan was already dialing. The whole room waiting in silence to see if relief crossed Morgan's features, what they got instead was his head dipping in despair when Reid phone went to voice mail.

"Morgan, take Prentiss, go to Reid's." Hotch was already picking up the phone to call the D.C. Metro for back up, but Gibbs was already on it.

"McGee and I will go with them. Ziva stay with the BAU and work on the explosion. From here on out, no one does anything alone." Gibbs may not have been the lead but he was used to barking the orders so Hotch let him have that one. It was a sentiment that he agreed with. With the new development in the case the unsub could very well have three federal agents, they weren't about to give him another one.

OoOoOoOoO

A loud thunk resonated through his skull as a volume of leather bound musty paper slammed onto the desk top right next to where his head had been resting in the crease of a similar volume. "Bobby, geez." Dean's voice sounded gravely as he woke with a wince.

"I found it." That sobered Dean up in a heartbeat. He sniffed and blinked trying to focus past the lingering dream state he'd just been in.

"You found the emerald?" Dean gave a shake of his head and yawned before he look up to meet Bobby's lack luster expression. "Right…you found out about it?"

"It's an amulet forged by the witch of Endor said to trap men's spirits into servitude." Bobby pointed to the passage in the book.

"And by spirits you mean, ghosts?" Dean arched an eyebrow, his top lip and nose wrinkling in disgust at the very concept.

"Well, I don't mean their inner cheerleader." Bobby remarked sarcastically on his way to the liquor cabinet. He removed a bottle and refreshed his cup before looking back over his shoulder at Dean, still leaning heavily against the desk.

"So someone is out there forcing ghosts into service?" Dean looked over his shoulder and met Bobby's eyes in disbelief. "That's messed up."

"I doubt they're hunting ghosts. I'm sure there's some ritual involved. My guess is that the victims start out alive, go through some sort of ordeal and then their spirits belong to whoever has the emerald." Bobby explained though his voice wavered betraying just how much of a guess he was taking. "All we've got to go on are a handful of myths scattered through five volumes. Castiel's the only one who knows for sure."

"Well he's not being helpful at the moment." There was a level of anger in Dean's voice that bordered on desperation. "I called him for hours after Sam dis…" Dean checked himself and changed the word he was about to use for a more suited one. "…was kidnapped. He put us on this path and now he can't be bothered to show up? I don't even know where to start looking, Bobby."

"We're doing all we can, Dean." Bobby poured Dean a glass as well and set it down beside him.

"Are we?" Dean asked in exasperation his face a mixture of heartbreak and horror, mingled with enraged fervor.

"We've tried magic, talked to psychics, something's shielding his location or else he's…"

"Don't say it…he's not dead." Dean was sure on that one point. He had fought too damn hard to give Sam a fighting chance at life, real life, with his soul intact. This is not where it was going to end.

"Alright," regret shown in Bobby's eyes before he looked away and slipped back into his seat at the desk across the room from Dean. "The last location we've got for the emerald so far is Baltimore, under the care of Phillip Barton in 1806. If it stayed in the family they might have an idea where it is now. If this all has to do with the emerald and the dead angels then maybe finding the emerald will lead us to Sam." It was a big leap of faith but it was the only one that they had.

"It won't." The monotone deep timbre reached them from the shadows between a book shelf and the fireplace. Dean was on his feet like a shot, fingers curling in tight in building rage, that is until Castiel stepped out of the shadows. Cas pitched forward catching himself on his hands and knees, but Dean could see the strain that even holding himself up was putting on him. Cas's arms were visibly trembling, his whole body caught in a hard shiver. Dean had never seen anything like it, especially not with Cas.

"What the hell happened to you?" Dean uncurled his fist and hurried to Cas's side. He hadn't seen him weak like this, well, ever, but the closest he could equate it to was when he had played out the majority of his angel mojo and practically become human. He quickly steered him to the nearest seat as Bobby looked on in growing alarm.

"I believe it was a spell." Even his voice sounded weak. "I know who has Sam."

Dean couldn't imagine the type of magic involved in order to hurt Cas in his new and improved form. Of Course he was still finding out that the world around them had horrors they'd yet to scratch the surface of. "Who's got him?" Dean was ready to find this asshole and get his brother back, preferably with the perpetrator long buried.

"Kabaiel," Castiel adjusted his ribs a disturbing crunch unsettling the room. Dean had to swallow a wave of disgust before he could meet Cas's eyes once more.

"Kabaiel?" Dean knew better then to go in without knowing what they were up against.

"Kabaiel," Castiel met Dean's eyes and a dread washed over him like a torrential downpour. "It's unclear whether he's an angel or demon."

Dean's lips parted, brows furrowing as he kept up with the progression from worse to worst. "Whoa - what? You don't know whose team this douche bag is on?" Dean asked in horror. If he hurt Sam, he was going to personally end his angelic/demonic life. Why the hell would the guy want Sam? Revenge because the apocalypse didn't go off without a hitch?

"I'm afraid so." Cas seemed to be getting his strength back, but it was a slow progression, at least for Cas. "I believe that he knows that I know he's still alive and is going to try to kill me."

Dean arched an eyebrow. If this Kabaiel was trying to kill Cas, he was off to a good start. Damn.

"You said that tracing the emerald wouldn't lead us to Sam. Why?" Bobby rose to his feet, having been listening with growing worry.

"Kabaiel taught the witch how to make them, he doesn't need one to do what he does." And the punches just kept on coming.

"What does he do?" Dean balled his fist again as he angled his head to put himself better in Cas's line of sight, making sure that he saw the anger registering in his features.

"All I know of Kabaiel is that he came to Earth before the fall. He employed the service of 365,000 spirits."

Bobby pushed himself off the desk he'd been leaning against in horror. "He's got thousands of ghosts working for him?"

"Hundreds of thousands," Cas corrected him. "But at best those that have been with him since the beginning are weak and fading, barely able to project their own presence. I believe that my fallen brethren discovered that he was trying to replenish his ranks with fresh spirits. I have yet to confirm this."

"So Sam…" Dean felt his dread growing into a cold knot in his chest.

"If this theory is correct, he seeks to enslave his spirit and thousands more." And there was the punch line, delivered with a hard left. Dean felt the recoil so sharply that it was like he'd been physically slapped.

"Why do you think he has Sam?" There was a hitch in Dean's voice, raw fear for his brother.

Cas met his eyes. "Because he wants what was Lucifer's."

OoOoOoOoO

There was nothing quite like waking up to a face full of sand. Nothing. It wasn't a slow process. Once he breathed in a few times, the lack of oxygen and foreign invaders pretty much did the rest. Tony jerked awake doubling over in a hacking coughing fit. There were moments where all he could do was expel the sand and wheeze in a breath then start the cycle over again, tear stained eyes blinded to the silence all around him.

He was fighting the urge to wretch he was hacking so hard, but by the end of it all he was left with a searing sharp pain in his chest and a much easier time breathing. He fell back, catching himself on his ass and elbows at a recline. Tony narrowed his eyes in confusion looking around in bewilderment. Ok not what he expected.

In the throes of tangerine rose kissed skies, twilight loomed like an ominous foreshadow to night, but there was nothing ominous about his surroundings.

"Not what you expected?"

"Not really, no." and that was such an understatement but Tony was trying to keep his voice low, his throat so raw that he teared up again. He was sitting in a large sand box in the middle of farm yard and there was no one, save himself and this mysterious dark robed stranger.

What made it even more unsettling was that the normal sounds one might expect from such a locale weren't there. There was a brisk wind chilling him, but otherwise, no birds, crickets, nothing but wind and his own labored breathing. Tony shifted looking past his feet to his gun that lay between the two of them wondering why his weapon was here. This wasn't a conventional hostage sort of deal.

The man had his back to him, left hand clutching a similar weapon that just peaked out from the wide black sleeve of his robe. His kidnapper craned his head to the left to see him from his peripheral. "I need you to understand, so that you can tell the others." Alright, that sounded sort of like this might be a suicide or something…maybe? What did he need him to tell the others and just who were the others? That was the information that Tony needed to determine just how much trouble he was in. Because for the life of him he couldn't understand why someone would make his victims feel so comfortable only to let them go the next day.

"What do I need to understand?" The who would come next.

"I need you to understand that you're going to die." This wasn't going in a direction that Tony liked.

Tony looked from this guy's peripheral perspective to the gun in the sand, gauging just how fast he thought he could move to get it. "Pick it up." The man sounded annoyed as if Tony's train of thought had distracted him. "Pick it up, check that it's loaded." The man didn't look concerned, he wasn't even posturing differently.

Tony moved slowly, no sudden movements. He did as told and picked up his gun, dropping the clip to check before he readjusted the weapon back into working order. Maybe it was booby trapped or the guy just wanted him to have a weapon before he put a round into him, make himself feel better? "So I'm going to die?" Tony climbed to his feet without aiming the gun, not yet. He wasn't sure that there wasn't another gun, someone watching from the tree line.

"Yes," He really didn't want to antagonize this guy but he wasn't being really informative.

"I hate to break it to you, but we're all going to die…eventually." Tony replied calmly, at least as calmly as he could, considering. The man grinned, at least it looked like he was grinning from Tony's angle.

"You're going to die four times, once by air, once by earth, once by water, and once by fire. All four of you will partake in this ritual and all four of you will then serve me as your master." Ok this guy was just cracker jacks off his rocker. Tony was really starting to get even more paranoid about the gun now. Why was he giving him a chance to defend himself? "I need you to understand, that you have no choice." By now Tony had the gun trained on him and he really didn't like that that didn't seem to faze the man.

"Drop the gun." Tony couldn't hide the fear in his voice. He couldn't even begin to. There was so much wrong with this scenario that he didn't even really know where to start, so he relied on training and instinct even when he had a sinking feeling that the gun in his hand wasn't the answer. He just didn't have another one.

The man did just the opposite, he raised the gun and Tony didn't even blink before firing two shots directly into the man's chest. Instinct told him to switch aim when the man didn't even flinch at the first round and he changed aim praying that the man didn't get a shot off before he did. He put another round right in the man's forehead, center. Tony saw a spray from the back of the man's head but froze as the man lowered his weapon, a smile growing on his face.

"You don't have a choice. You can't kill me, you can't take me on, you can't fight me. In four days your spirit's will belong to me." His voice was growing, an edge of impatience and anger all wrapped into every word. Tony suddenly felt his feet go out from under him as if he'd just been taken down by a line backer, casting him face first into the sand. He hit the ground so hard that his breath was knocked out of him, just as his gun was lost. Tony couldn't move, he couldn't explain what was holding him but he couldn't fight it, just as the man said. He felt hot breath against his ear, mingled with the man's blood dripping from the wound that he could only imagine resided in the back of his head. "I want you to tell the others, tell them what awaits them."

"For the next four weeks, I will give of myself to you… my blood in your veins" and as if to showcase what he meant a sudden prick to his arm had Tony letting out a surprised terror filled cry. He felt a strange mix of hot and cold shoot up his arm. His mind was racing so fast that he couldn't catch a single thought, raw emotion and survival instincts insisting that he give up the struggle, wait for some sort of opening. "And all of you will give your life for me, until I own your spirits," he made good on that promise too.

Tony wasn't sure if his face was pushed further into the sand or if the sand had risen up to meet him and after what he'd seen he wasn't ruling either out. What followed though was merciless and agonizing. Tony suffocated on the sand, his chance for breath taken; he was killed, killed just as he was told he would be.

OoOoOoOoO

There was something, soft…something, warm…something, snuggled? Dr. Spencer Reid slid his hand down the something that was wrapped around him and froze when the something groaned out "We can sleep in, McGee, it's Saturday."

"Um…Miss…" Reid's eyes fluttered open on that note and he looked down the length of his body to find that Ms. Sciuto had wrapped her arms around his middle, her head resting on his chest. Her left leg was likewise draped over his legs and she was hugging tight, comfortably resting on him. He quietly began to try and disentangle himself without much fuss but felt her tighten her hold. Reid let out a sound that was something between a yelp and a squeak.

He laid his head back down giving himself a moment to relax…although that moment was coupled with an influx of questions as to why they were in this state which further was answered by a slew of possibilities such as some sort of gas, some sort of poisoning. They hadn't had anything to drink since they had arrived at their current location so gaseous poison seemed more likely but to what purpose?

Reid leaned back up, ignoring Ms. Sciuto now as he looked over the room and found that the private detective, Sam, was laid out asleep at their feet, but there was no sign of Agent DiNozzo.

So they took Tony and left the three of them, why? And his brain was racing again. He slid his hand down Abby's arm his brain AWOL from the action as he was trying to figure it all out. She snuggled in tighter and he hardly noticed. They were trying to scare them? Reid knew that the BAU and NCIS were looking for a single suspect, but from the layout of this place he doubted that now. Maybe a cult? And now he was searching through volumes upon volumes of reports and books on cults, tracing his own experiences. He didn't even realize that Abby had woken up.

"Could you um…" She was disentangling herself quickly and then suddenly slapped his arm.

"Ow…" Reid sat up, his mind on hold as he looked at her in confusion.

"Sorry thought you might be trying to…" She broke off reading the confusion in his expression and he read that she was changing her mind about him then and there. "Sorry." She smiled softly.

"No, it's alright. I tried to move you but you weren't really awake." Reid explained. "I was thinking about our circumstance, trying to understand why they might gas us in order to take one of us. I mean doesn't that signify a lack the strength to fight all four of us in order to take just one?"

Abby had just started to nod when she realized what he's just said and began to look around in horror. Her demeanor immediately changed to pure panic as she got to her feet and began to whirl around the room looking for DiNozzo. Reid empathized and while he was worried for the man as well he had hope. He was going to apologize for his lack of tact when there was another groan and Sam began to stir.

Reid hurried to him. "It's alright, I think we were gassed, but everyone in here seems alright." Reid explained in a reassuring manner. Sam looked up at him in confusion a moment and then nodded his agreement. "We're missing one though."

"Missing one?" Sam looked worried as he sat up then climbed to his feet.

"They've got, Tony." Abby's voice dropped off soft, a warning of how deep the panic had set in. Her gaze held fast to the door, tears burning her eyes.

"Abby, look around the room," Reid got to his feet with Sam and came to her side, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Look at Tony's nook," He pointed it out to her. "Whoever took us, they took a lot of care and time to fix it up just the way they wanted it, to make us comfortable. They wouldn't do all of that and kill him before he even has a chance to appreciate that."

Abby was nodding quickly in agreement, fighting off the tears. Finally she met his eyes, having lost the fight, tears carrying a black tinge rolling down her cheeks. "They can still hurt him."

Reid swallowed tightly, knowing it was true. He didn't have any comforting words to turn her thoughts from what they could be doing to him. He feared that the elaborate set up was a way to make up for whatever pain they might be facing, but he definitely wasn't going to share that with her.

"We should be ready for them, when they bring him back." Sam was looking the door over again. "Do either of you remember what happened when you were taken? Did you see anyone, anything?"

"All I remember was a guy in a black robe." Reid's memory of the event was sketchy at best. He remembered a blurring man coming in and out of focus.

"Did you see his face? His eyes? Was there anything strange with his eyes?" Sam flattened himself against the wall on the other side of the door and looked from the door to Reid and back again repeatedly, waiting for his answer.

"I can barely remember he was there, the black robe stood out, but I didn't see his eyes." Reid narrowed his eyes in confusion over why a PI with so little information on the case wondered about such a specific detail. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just trying to figure out who we're up against." Reid didn't like the lake of sharing on Sam's part. He'd had a hunch that he was hiding something, but now he was positive. "You can tell a lot about a man by his eyes."

"Right," Reid let it go for now.

Reid blinked as a wave of dizziness hit him, searching for something to hold on to as Abby grabbed onto his shoulder to keep herself righted. "The room's spinning…" Abby got out her voice bordering on panic once more.

Sam slid down the wall to keep from pitching to the floor just as the door opened and Tony was tossed into the room in a heap. Reid grabbed onto the wall trying desperately to keep himself and Abby on their feet watching as Sam craned his head to take a look at the blurry robed figure that stood in the doorway. "What are you?" he heard the PI ask.

There was a deep chuckle in response and the only reply was "You're master."

The door closed and the dizziness began to abate quickly. Abby pushed herself off Reid and ran to Tony's side desperately feeling for a pulse. Reid felt relief flood through him when she let out her own breath in relief. "He's alive." As if to prove the point Tony stirred coughing sharply, expelling a mouthful of sand.

"I'm not dead yet." Tony smiled at Abby, his voice gravely and raw with pain. She smiled back, blinking back tears and leaned down kissing his forehead before meeting Reid and Sam's gazes in worry as Tony began to cough once more. Abby helped him sit up, patting his back in a move to assist his expulsion of the sand.

Reid watched the scene unfold his mind racing, straining to put the puzzle pieces together. They took Tony, they brought him back, they – or he – wanted them to believe that he was their master. Sam was asking strange questions signifying that he knew more than he was telling them all and Tony looked like he'd been rolling around on a beach face first. He needed to know more, they all did.

"What happened while you were gone? Did you see how many there are? Where we are? Any sort of anything?" Sam was the one that asked.

"Give him a minute." Abby called out in defense of Tony who had calmed his cough and was now wiping the sand off his face as quickly as he could.

"It's ok Abs." Tony sounded horrible and winced frequently even as he tried to hide the pain in his features. "I saw one guy. He's sporting a major monk look and has an affinity for having the back of his head blown out. I don't know how you can fake that. I shot him three times, I saw the wounds and he was still up and talking like it was nothing."

Reid arched an eyebrow. Maybe they were all hyped up on a hallucinogenic? What surprised him more than the story was that Sam didn't even blink.

"I'm sure it was whatever they gave you…" Abby started.

"No…I'm clean. Well except for the blood."

"Blood?" Sam's voice harbored a level of alarm that Reid hadn't seen him display since they'd met and there had been ample amounts of fear floating between them all.

"He gave me a shot of it. Said it was his. That was right before he suffocated me in a sandbox. You know of all the ways I thought I would go, I did not see that one coming. He must have performed CPR or something. Next thing I know I'm back here."

"What did he say?" Sam was practically pacing by now.

"Oh yeah, he wanted me to tell you guys the plan. Apparently he plans on killing us over and over again and giving us lots of his blood so that when we finally die…"

"Our spirits become his slaves." Sam finished for him.

All eyes cast in Sam's direction, his PI façade shattered.

_"Without trust, words become the hollow sound of a wooden gong. With trust, words become life itself." – __**John Harold**_

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Alrighty – sorry it's not my best work, but I do hope that you guys like it. I rushed a little bit on the end so major apologies, but the next chapter will be spent with the captives more.

Thanks for all of the reviews so far and in answer to a few questions or comments – I promise not to get graphic and there will be no torture just for torture's sake. I think it's going to be a joint effort on everyone's part to get them all out of this and I think the update itself answered the others. Sooo please don't roast the plot bunnies and please review.

Also there is a promo video – the link didn't go through on the last update but the link is in my profile page.

**Next Chapter:** Bobby, Dean, and Cas employ some unusual methods in order to garner more information on Kabaiel and in the process manage to get themselves on the BAU's radar. Garcia helps make a break in the case and the captives try to escape…


	4. The Lesser Evil

**Where Angels Fear to Tread**

**Then:** _Team Supernatural found out who has Sam but they need much more to go on. Teams NCIS and BAU discovered that there were many more victims than they originally thought and that three of their own are missing. Tony discovered that the bad guy couldn't be killed with conventional weapons and that he plans to make all his captives into spirit slaves and the captives learned that Sam wasn't a private investigator._

**Now:** _Dean, Bobby, and Castiel decide to find out more on Kabaiel via an ancient demon's companion in a risky endeavor. Garcia makes a breakthrough in the case. The captives have much to discuss and even more to wrap their heads around. Logic begins to breed mistrust until they realize that they are not alone. _

**Chapter Four: The Lesser Evil**

_**Cusco, Peru**_

Lightning pulsed to the beat of a thousand drums a mingling of Spanish and English shivering over the stone megalithic walls that stood watch over the city of Cusco. The skies were a mess of heat and humidity, but promised no rain, just the reminder of the raw power they harbored. Below the walls of antiquity, in a tourist stomped clearing, hard bodies moved in the stormy seas of blue strobes and rhythmic thundering. Dean crouched atop his perch, one of the larger of the stone walls of Sacsayhuaman, and peered into the epileptic crowd below before looking back up to Cas.

"You couldn't have gotten us a little closer?" He asked his voice thick with annoyance and disbelief.

"There are wards." Castiel replied flatly.

"Against Angels?" Dean knew there was still much to learn in the world of hunting, but it surprised him that he could still be, well, surprised.

"Not specifically, it's more a ward against surprise entrances…the only way in is to walk." Dean pushed himself to his feet and jumped to the least of the two heights that the wall offered on either side. They had quite a walk to get to the rave thundering out of control below. Cas followed and they made their way at a brisk pace. Dean was already feeling the humidity and shrugged out of his jacket, flinging it over his right shoulder.

"Alright who's the contact?" Castiel had explained that he'd been told of one person who might be able to tell them about Kabaiel. Bobby stayed behind to do more research and see if he could dig anything up from his vast supply of contacts while Cas whisked himself and Dean away to Cusco.

"Liras, I believe that you know her as the witch of Endor," Dean stopped short and stared at the back of Cas's head as he continued walking, only stopping when he realized that Dean was no longer at his side.

"Seriously? A Witch?" Dean was teetering on the border of shock and disbelief and clinging to blind rage. Witches were only a stone's throw away from Demonic and their only prospect in the afterlife was hell. It shouldn't have been such a shock with all the inner play between the light and dark side as of late but after Crowley was toast Dean had no intention of comingling again. "Cas, we might as well be asking a demon. We can't trust anything that she says."

"I'll know if she lies." Castiel was confident but Dean still didn't like the idea. If this was the only real lead they had of getting Sammy back though he was all for it. Dean reluctantly started again, Cas falling into step once more. There was a moment of silence that hung heavy, the reverb from the music bouncing off the walls all around them caused the very air about them to hum, their skin vibrating.

"So…the witch of Endor…isn't she pretty old?" Dean was glad that the lights from the party were bright enough to cast a glow over the path that they were walking.

"Yes." Cas sensed that Dean needed something to occupy his mind amid the worry over Sam and added. "I'm told that she hides her true visage under a strong glamour spell. I should be able to see through it and identify her when we get there."

"Alright Mister X-ray specs, so this Kabaiel guy he taught her how to make the emerald, right? Are they friends? A couple? Could he be nearby?" There was hope that they could be right around the corner from finding Sam, but Dean had a feeling it wasn't going to be that easy.

Castiel drew his brows together clearly not as hopeful. "I don't know. I have very little to go on myself." There was as much of an apologetic tone in his voice as Cas could muster and Dean let out a sigh with a nod.

"What about what you said earlier? You said that Kabaiel wanted what's Lucifer's. What does that mean, Cas?" Dean had to raise his voice as they neared the crowd.

"He wants dominion over the Earth." Castiel explained. "It's what Lucifer wanted as well. It stands to reason that if they have the same goals than its possible Sam's abduction was a slight against Lucifer."

"Nothing stands to reason yet, Cas," Dean scoffed in disbelief. Whatever this guy's motivation it wasn't justifiable in any sort of reason that Dean felt he could understand. They grew quiet as talking became more of a challenge.

The splash of blue that pulsed through the throngs of thrashing bodies grew more agitated and shifted to orange, a cry of excitement going through the crowd as the next song roared to life without missing a beat from the previous. Two more songs and a rainbow of hue changes placed them at the edge of the crowd where they silently exchanged a glance before they were engulfed by a surging wave.

Dean fought to keep an eye on Cas as he searched the crowd, the both of them fighting to keep moving. He gave him a nod when Cas motioned to a blonde a few feet away from them. Dean suddenly realized that they should have been talking strategies on the way into this instead of having Q and A as he moved in her direction.

Witches that were incredibly old didn't look like 23 year old supermodels without some serious magic. Luckily the Angel on his right had some serious mojo of his own. Dean had to have faith in that as he followed Cas's lead. When they got within a few feet of her she cut them both a knowing glance and motioned for them to follow, moving effortlessly through the crowd they ended up by a large purple silk blanket away from the crowd and the noise.

"Sit." She was had a rock hard body with legs up to there and a tight little thigh high white number on, Dean just hoped that she didn't reveal her true form, he was sure that it wasn't as pleasant a sight. She sat down and patted the blanket next to her. "Relax, I won't bite. I saw that you were coming. It's been a long time since anyone wanted to know about the old world."

Dean waited for Cas to sink to the blanket before he joined him, body tensed for action should the circumstances become dire. "If you knew all about this, you could have saved us a trip and phoned." Dean smirked garnering a smile and a giggle from the witch.

"What would be the fun in that?"

"We are not here for fun," Cas replied with his dead pan expression. Her smile dwindled a bit but she gained it back promptly as if she had to remind herself how Angels could be. "We've come to ask you about Kabaiel."

Dean folded his legs like he was sitting in a kindergarten class and rested his forearms against his knees as he waited to hear what they could gleam from this chick.

"What, no foreplay?" She frowned in mock disappointment. "I'm disappointed in you Dean. I've heard you're quite the playboy."

"Not when my brother's being held by some sadistic spirit slaver." Dean replied coldly. He hated all the small talk and formalities that went into information seeking.

"I did hear he was awake…" She sighed and looked away as if recalling another time, accepting that there was little fun to be had with the men before her. "What is it you want to know?"

"Who is he?" Castiel jump right in. It wasn't the first question Dean wanted an answer to but it would do. It was right up there with 'How do I kill him?' and 'Oh, yeah, where did you say he was again?'

"Did you know that there was a world before this one?" She replied evenly, not even attempting to answer the question head on. "Lots of religions recount the various versions in scant pros that give little to go on, the gossip game played over epochs. Information that's lost is hard to find again. I'll need a favor if you want to know what you're up against."

Dean's head dipped as he let out a laugh that turned bitter and hardened by the time he looked up to meet her eyes once more. "What kind of favor?" He cut a glance to Cas as if to say a silent 'I told you this was a bad idea,' He'd made so many deals with so many devils that he was losing count.

"Dean, maybe…" Cas started but Dean shook his head. He wanted to at least hear this.

"I've got this, Cas." Cas narrowed his eyes but gave a nod.

"I want my emerald back. When it's all said and done and you possess it. I want it returned to me." After watching them question whether or not to even have a listen to her request she went on with the explanation.

Dean wasn't about to put that thing back into the general population on planet Earth, but if a little lip service would get her to tell him how he could get his brother back then he was all for that. "Sure Lady."

"Dean, we can't…" Cas protested warily.

Dean met his eyes praying that he played along just so they could find out what this broad knew so that they could save Sam, sooner rather than later. "Trust me, Cas." Cas might not have been very adept at the little white nothing, but Dean wasn't above it at all.

"Shake on it." She offered her slender pristinely manicured hand in his direction and Dean felt the hair on his neck stand on end, an instinctive reaction to bargains bristling his resolve. Damn, it was just a handshake. Dean thrust his palm into hers and began to shake.

Her fingers curled around his hand with a grip to rival that of any superhero and Dean let out a cry, trying to pull his hand back to no avail. That cry soon turned into a scream as white hot agony shot through his palm and blazed a path up his arm and into his chest.

"Dean!" Castiel's voice sounded far away as Dean fought a wave of nausea, trying to just make it through the pain, to stay conscious. In the end she released him and Dean doubled over heaving in breath after breath, fighting his way back to some semblance of normal. He finally picked his head up, Cas's having already placed a steadying hand on his shoulder. "What did you do to him?" Cas was demanding in tandem with Dean's glare that begged the same question.

"Just a little collateral," She explained nonchalantly. "Dean agreed to bring me the emerald. I'm ensuring that he keeps that agreement. If he reneges then his life is forfeit."

Dean had finally found his voice just in time to get out an emotionally wrought "Son of a Bitch." Dean shared another glance with Castiel, both of them speaking volumes with their eyes. They would definitely be talking about this further later. Dean let out a measured breath pushing the lingering sear back as he managed an "Alright, this had better be worth it."

"You won't be disappointed." She gave him a wink and leaned back on her elbows. "As I said there was a world before this one, several in fact. Some cultures count up to 5 in their creation mythos. What's important is the one before this one." She smirked thoughtfully to herself. "There are hardly any secrets that remain of such times."

"Look we get it you're the keeper of all knowledge, could you hurry this along?" Dean couldn't bite back the venom in his voice. He hated this bitch already. Cas had better have a plan for getting his life off the chopping block. At this rate he should have just asked his old pal Death what was going on.

"Kabaiel is from the world before. There are no more angels quite like him. He was charged with protecting the Earth and all her inhabitants. He was her protector for so long that he began to feel as if she were his alone. He watched over all the birds, reptiles, fish, animals and the empires of men. He knew nothing more of the politics of Heaven. So he was in the dark when the first rebellion occurred. Unlike Lucifer's fall, there was only one true enemy and she fell alone."

"She?" Castiel eye brows were furrowed and Dean felt a ribbon of fear flutter through him that he didn't seem to know this story. Of course the fact remained that every word out of her mouth could be a lie.

"Her original name seems lost but the Sumerians deified her as the creator after she spun a web of lies surrounding Kabaiel forcing her to make reparations for the destruction she wrought. I think she goes by Nam now a day."

"This isn't written in the scrolls…" Castiel was rightfully perplexed.

"This predates the scrolls, my dear Castiel." You could cut the distrust and tension building between them all with a knife. "Nammu came to Earth after her fallout with the Father. Banishment from Heaven was to end it, but she came with such a vengeance, such anger and she tore through the Earth. Kabaiel warred with her but in the end the battle destroyed everything. I'm sure you've heard that in the beginning the Earth was formless – That's because of Kabaiel and Nam's war. Despite fault they were both stripped of the majority of their power and sentenced to Earth for eternity. They've hibernated here and there over the millennia but as I've said I heard that Kabaiel was awake again."

She had to be kidding. "You expect us to believe that?" Dean was exasperated, hell he was beyond that. "You're spinning some folk tale when we need hard facts here lady."

She frowned clearly not amused with his lack of patience. "You should understand who you're dealing with."

"That's what we are trying to do." Castiel got a word in.

"Then listen, Kabaiel and Nam have been spectators in the world since the new world. Kabaiel vowed to keep watch over God's new creations, but he was limited in what he could do. With the second fall and the introductions of demons the whole name of the game changed. Nam still wants to destroy the world and Kabaiel still wants to protect it, but there are so many players now and they have been taking some long breaks in between battles. With this new almost Armageddon, it brought them both out of slumber and they are preparing for a war. Kabaiel already had the ability to command spirits; he already had remnants of his army. Nam is building her own, using my emerald to even the field. When they're ready they'll use every advantage they can muster to take each other on."

"Alright, let's say that we're buying this, hypothetically…" Dean felt his heart sinking. They had _just_ stopped the freakin' end of the world. "They've been stripped of power, they're not as powerful as they were, so what can they do? Do you know which one actually has my brother?"

"I'm sure it's Kabaiel. He chooses his subjects carefully. Nam just started this game. She won't be so picky. She's probably working on a mass ritual, something messy. As for what they can do, I don't know for sure. I know that Kabaiel was well versed in the ancient magicks. I'm sure that still rings true. Nam has to be as capable. They both possess some of their angelic powers, but only a fraction of their former worth so at least whatever Castiel can do, maybe a little more." She gave a shrug.

"Cas, are you believing this?" Dean asked worriedly, especially at the mention that these two were still pretty powerful.

"It's possible. I've heard rumors of those that came before." Castiel was looking just as worried. He grew silent again lost in his own thoughts.

"Great." Dean scoffed. "So how do we kill them?"

"Not even I know that." Liras sighed and slowly rose to her feet as a seductive beat filled the air, drawing her towards the crowd. "But I know how you can find Kabaiel." She turned her back to the crowd still sauntering backwards and blew them a kiss, though as she blew the nothing that was inside her palm turned into a white dove that flew right at Dean. Dean had to duck to miss the beauty. When the whisper feel of feathers soon turned to the more coarse feel of paper he looked up to find that the dove had turned into a bits of paper all poised to fall into the palm of his hand. Once there they grew together into a fully formed sheet with detailed instruction for a ritual that would locate Kabaiel. Dean shook his head with another scoff and looked up to see that she'd disappeared into the crowd.

"Show off." He bickered in her general direction.

OoOoOoOoO

Reid was gone. They had already lost so much, all of them on some level and here he was in some hell again. Garcia felt sick at her stomach. She had multiple searches running and she wasn't even close to being done…even though she didn't even know where to begin with this. The most they had was the phone calls and locations and she was trying to see if there was anything else going on in said locals at the time of the calls.

She couldn't take a break. She couldn't even think of it. She needed to be here the moment that something turned up. She needed to be here so that if she thought of anything…

Anything…

That she could look into it. She had a general idea of what the team was up to. Morgan and Prentiss were pouring over everything they knew, all the case files, checking in with the local authorities in both cities and they weren't alone. Rossi and Hotch were in the conference room hashing ideas as NCIS agent David looked into the explosion. JJ was talking to Director Vance in an effort to keep the lines of communication over the case open.

Gibbs and McGee were combing over the abduction sites.

The abduction sites…

Garcia closed her eyes, fighting back tears. Reid's apartment had become one. She felt like this case was growing more and more convoluted the further they went. She'd been around enough profiles to start picking up on the signs and this didn't fit a single thing and when things started going in that direction it never turned out good. The unknown was a bad place to be in this line of work.

This case was like a nightmare; just enough to let them know that they were needed and still nothing to go on…and now Reid was smack in the middle of the nothing that they knew. Garcia's eyes flew to the screen when a beep alerted her to a search that had turned up something.

She peered at the screen a silent prayer on her lips.

But what she found there only baffled her more. She knew that the smallest thing could help them but this was…this was…something else.

She ran a search on the name that kept coming up in the locales where the victim/suspect's calls came from and her mouth fell open. Garcia fumbled to connect her headset to a local line and hurriedly dialed Morgan's phone.

"Speak to me, Baby Girl." Came an exhausted answer to the line.

Garcia drew her chair closer to the desk as if looking closer at the screen would give her more to go on and she let out a breath before she could reply. "There were three instances where our marine guy was in the same locale as a wanted member of the Ravenwood Mercenary group, name of Gregory Downs." Garcia unloaded all at once hoping that it meant something to someone.

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AN: This chapter is split into two – I meant to have much more for everyone but my class schedule and reality messed with me so I have this and the promise that next chapter includes Who Namu is, and deals exclusively with the captives.

Please review I get a little insecure sometimes.


	5. The Lesser Evil pt 2

**Where Angels Fear to Tread**

**Chapter Four: The Lesser Evil Pt. 2**

"For the 9th consecutive day, residence of Santiago, Chili have been rendered immobile due to a second storm front bringing heavy rain and wind to the already waterlogged area. Widespread flooding and debris have crippled transportation leaving thousands of tourists and millions of residence stranded…"

Bobby muted the TV and picked up his cell phone, cradling it between his shoulder and chin while grabbing another page from his fax machine. He'd managed to get his hands on the most recent case notes from the FBI via the help of a hacker friend referred to him via Rufus. He adjusted the pages and readied to dial Dean's number, but a soft rustle from behind him let him know that Dean and Cas were back. As if the rustle wasn't enough the heated ongoing rapid fire that came next further impressed the point.

"You could have warned me!" Dean was yelling, a sign that Bobby had learned didn't necessarily mean that he had a right to it. "Now I have to worry about handing that damned cursed jewel over to a demon serving witch or dying." Bobby nearly dropped the file in his hands as his mouth fell open. In one fell swoop he was wondering why he thought this could possibly go smoothly.

"You said to trust you, that you had it." Castiel looked more confused than angry.

Dean took a breath before he went on, realization that Cas was right deflating his tirade. "Tell me there is a way out of this deal, Cas."

Bobby couldn't let that go. "What deal?" His voice bordered on concern and so angry he was ready to take Dean's head off, coming out as a half formed growl.

Bobby's interjection into the conversation had Dean searching for the words to explain it to him in the best possible way inadvertently leaving Castiel an opening his for his own version of the events. "Dean made a deal with the witch of Endor for information on Kabaiel for which he must return to her the Emerald of Solomon or forfeit his own life."

Dean stumbled to clarify before Bobby could get a word in. "The terms weren't like that. She didn't say I had to give up anything, just that she wanted the emerald back."

"And you didn't think that she would have some sort of leverage?" Bobby asked in utter disbelief. "Oh let me guess you didn't think!"

"I was thinking about, Sam!" Dean rebutted.

"Which has cost you a lot more than your life in the past!" Bobby reminded him. Silence fell heavy over the group, giving them all a chance to get their emotions in check. They needed to get through the information they had now before they started searching for a solution to this new dilemma.

It was Cas that broke the silence.

"According to the witch, Kabaiel is an angel working against a fallen both of which predate the creation of the current world. Their powers have been minimized, but they are still exceedingly capable of destruction on a vast scope."

Bobby shook his head and dropped the file he'd been holding onto the desk behind him as hard as he could before swiping his ball cap from his head to wipe his forehead on his forearm. "This keeps getting better and better."

"They're both building armies." Dean added.

"Well then you'll be happy to know that members of the NCIS and FBI team running this show were abducted and are probably with Sam, which means getting close to this case just got even harder." Bobby reported with scathing sarcasm.

OoOoOoOoO

"For the 9th consecutive day, residence of Santiago, Chili have been rendered immobile due to a second storm front bringing heavy rain and wind to the already waterlogged area. Widespread flooding and debris have crippled transportation leaving thousands of tourists and millions of residence stranded. Santiago is currently the only venue for transportation on and off of the now cut off Easter Island. With limited resources and heavy dependence on the mainland, the Chilean government has employed the Raven Wood Security Company to charter food and supplies to the island. The Company asks that any donations for the Easter Island Efforts or EIE be made to their Lima office."

He was surprised that the television actually worked. They had taken a moment, the others trying to take in Tony's ludicrous tale and just how it was that Sam could finish it for him. Everyone was quiet, the news program washing over them. Tony was in the shower. Sam had been listening to the other two hashing out the idea that their capturer was watching and listening to them. So the TV was on to muffle any conversation to come.

Night had fallen hard, the darkness making their plush cell look more ominous than inviting. All the docile colors in the world looked more menacing when the sun set. The lamp light was no replacement for daylight and the night sky through the sky light far above mocked them. It seemed to just out of reach, their one clear cut exit and yet it was so far away. Rain pelted against the skylight, the patter lost to the roar of the television. The occasional flash of lightning and consequent thunder was the only distraction from the mounting tension in their cell.

He didn't know where to even begin to explain things to them, how much to explain, and there was no way that they were going to fully believe him until something mind blowing enough happened in the presence of all of them. Tony wouldn't be a hard sell if he'd seen enough to know that no normal human could have withstood what he'd dished out. He wasn't sure about Abby, but her science background might be a problem and then there was this Spencer guy. He seemed a very rational person, which meant a tough sell.

Worse still was how it was going to look to have inside knowledge. Sam knew full well that they could assume that he was working as some sort of insider for the kidnapper. He just hoped that his proof would come sooner than later. He needed them all on his side in order to think of way out of this.

Right now the prospects were looking grim. He'd gone through his repertoire of knowledge on all things monster and nothing could take a head shot and just keep going like Tony had described save someone just borrowing the body they were in. It had to be a demon or an angel. He still had a little bit of spidey sense when it came to demons and no one had seen any discoloration of the eyes so Angels were looking more the suspect. Luckily, if that were the case then Castiel should have some sort of information on who had them and the rescue wagon would be in shortly.

Unfortunately, Sam didn't know that for sure. He could try to work on a sigil for the next time this guy came to claim one of them, but without everyone on board he'd never get past the first cut. People who didn't believe in the supernatural tended to get a little jumpy when someone cut themselves to paint with their own blood. He might have to take the chance anyway, but he really hoped that he had them by then. There was also that hardy presence thing that this guy had going. They'd passed out the first time, but it only brought them to the floor the second. Either they were getting some resistance to it or he was pulling his punches with it.

Sam looked up from where he leaned forward on the table as Tony walked out of the bathroom running a towel through his short disheveled burnt umber locks. He'd already dried off for the most part, having slipped back into the sweats and another T-shirt. Luckily, they all had a small dresser full of pants and T-shirts. The commercials in between recurring coverage of the worsening situation in Santiago and Easter Island were blaring as the four of them seemed to come to some semblance of order upon Tony's return. There was an unspoken agreement that it was time to talk.

Tony moved in and sank into the last available seat at the table so that hopefully all of them could hear each other over the TV. "You guys don't believe me, do you?" Tony took a breath but went on before anyone could really answer him. "I mean I can understand why." He gave a nervous chuckle. "I'm not acting like the picture of sanity talking about shooting a guy and then there was what all he said right before he killed me or whatever it was he did."

"It's not that we don't believe you…" Abby started and Sam could see that Reid was just about to jump right in there to back her up.

"I believe you." Sam garnered the groups silence as everyone cast their gaze in his direction. Abby peered over her knees. She'd placed her feet in the seat with her and drawn her knees up to her chest, hugging them to her. Now she raised her chin from her knees her brows furrowing. Reid didn't shift much from where he'd been studying Sam from the other side of the table.

"Why isn't that comforting." Tony sighed, eyeing Sam with more study. "You're not a dick are you?"

"Not really, no." Sam leaned back ready for whatever swarm of questions was coming.

"You finished Tony's sentence when he was telling us what had happened to him. How did you know what the man had told him?" Reid was the first one in.

"I didn't. There are some rituals that involve blood and death in a given time frame that deal with enslavement of spirits. One in particular involves an emerald, an emerald that my brother and I were looking for. When Tony started to explain it I remembered an inscription that I found." Sam explained.

"So you're what, a treasure hunter?" Abby looked betrayed, that he'd lied to them. But even the betrayal couldn't dwarf the worry in her eyes when she looked over Tony.

"No." Sam shook his head.

"You asked the perpetrator what he was when he brought Tony back, not who. And you seem to believe without a doubt that Tony's description of what happened while he was gone was literal and not some sort of hallucination or dream brought on by the trauma and drugs we were given when we were kidnapped." Reid summed up the point he was trying to make and then presented his question. "Why is that?"

"My brother and I we were working on the same case that both of your teams were working on, but not as private detectives. We work unusual cases. A friend of ours had word that this emerald was changing hands and people were dying over it and we were trying to find it to return it so that the deaths stopped." Concise…to the point and no mention of the monsters yet. Yet he felt like he'd given himself away as they all watched him. At least two of them had interviewing experience. He just had to wonder how good they were.

"What would you classify your job title as?" Reid asked quickly, curiosity unmistakable in his voice.

Sam leaned back and sighed. Alright he could just say it all and quit trying to sugar coat it all or be evasive, that might help, but it might not. What he was afraid of was they didn't have time for this. "I'll be as straight as I can, but you have to understand that no matter what I say you're going to think that I'm hiding something, because there are some things about my line of work that I'm not going to explain unless I have to." Sam met their eyes as he looked to each of them, trying to be as candid as he could. "My brother and I are what some people call hunters. The cases we work involve supernatural elements. There are only two things that can withstand what Tony did and move along without blinking. I can rule one of them out."

He gave a pause but they gave him the benefit of not asking anything else, seeing that he was about to continue. "The guy that has us is a supernatural being inhabiting a human body, what he would call a vessel. He can keep the body viable as long as he's inside it." He wasn't about to say angel because he didn't even want to try opening that can of worms.

"So you're stark raving mad?" Tony asked but clarified quickly. "And apparently I am too, considering."

"You're not crazy, Tony." Abby piped in though she didn't give such a hopeful gesture to Sam.

"But you think I am…look I know you don't believe me but I know something that can help, if I'm right. There is a sigil that I can draw and if he comes near I can activate it. It will temporarily banish him from the site, buying us enough time to escape." Sam explained.

"Look, I don't know what all I saw when I was out there, but what you're saying is still out there. Reid's right I've been through some stuff today, it's not too farfetched to say that the combination of stress and drugs and whatever knock to the head I took played a role in making me believe something that was unbelievable. Can you back up what you're saying?" Tony hated to turn on him considering what he'd said earlier but even he was having a hard time with all of this.

"Not like this, no." Sam sighed heavily. "Maybe if you let me talk to him when he comes back." He'd already lost what he hoped would be his strongest supporter and everyone was ever distrustful. At least they weren't suspecting him as working with the enemy.

"Or we could just get out of here before that." Tony pointed upward as he mentioned it and all eyes rose to look at the skylight 15 feet above them. Silence reigned for a few moments as they all took it in. "There's plenty of furniture around here. We can make it up there. Well Abby probably could, once she got on someone's shoulders."

Reid got to his feet still looking up as if the prospect was turning over and over in his mind rapidly. "She'll need something to beat the glass with. Most flat skylights are made out of safety glass, not unlike car windows. If they've been laminated it might be even harder to get through."

Abby shot to her feet agitated and ready to move. "Well what are we waiting for?" She headed to the 3 large 6 shelved book cases in Reid alcove. "We should start with the sturdiest shapes for the base. Help me get the books off." She was already tossing books off at a startling pace and throwing them over her shoulder onto Reid's twin bed. "The dressers are good too, pull the clothes out of them and the drawers, get rid of the moving parts," She called quickly.

There was another moment of silence as everyone looked in her direction no one moving quite so fast and she paused peering around the corner of Reid's alcove. "If he – they – whoever – comes in to stop us then we know they're watching us. If not we might make it out tonight." The mere hope that they might have a chance stirred everyone to their feet. Sam let Tony head over to Abby, seeing that trusted each other the most and he headed to Tony's alcove with Reid to help him with the dresser.

Sam could feel the tension, the tension from someone who didn't know quite what to make of him. He could feel the doubts and the fear. He pulled out the bottom drawer and set it on the floor. "I'm not crazy or psychotic or delusional." Sam promised Reid. "Though in a way I wish I was for you guy's sake." He offered as a show of good will, hoping that eventually Reid would understand it. "This guy doesn't have to watch us; he doesn't need to know what we're doing. And while I hope this works I have some strong doubts, because believe me he thinks we're all inferior to him."

"Sounds like you're profiling him." Reid set another drawer down next to that one. All of them were adrenaline rushed and waiting to see if anyone came in but no one spoke of it.

"That's what you guys do isn't it?" Sam asked as he grabbed another drawer and it out of the way. Reid gave him a nod. "We do profile, I guess." Sam had never quite thought of what they did that way, but that had to determine what it was they were hunting so that they could find it. "I've met others like our abductor. Some are not so bad, the majority have some major pride issues or don't know who they should be listening too." Sam divulged.

"Like Lucifer in the fall. Are you sure you aren't speaking of fallen angels?" Reid was half joking but when they met each other's eyes over the question Sam saw his face fall as he realized he'd hit the nail on the head. "You are…"

"Not fallen, well I don't know if they've fallen or not. A lot's changed in the last year." Sam sighed. "I think whoever it is, is not on Heaven's side." Sam was honest as he could be and he could tell that Reid was even more bewildered. "I know you think I'm certifiable, but I'm telling you the truth." And all the words in the world weren't going to sell this crazy train, so Sam didn't push it. "I think we can move the dresser." He brought them both back to the painful reality of captivity as he motioned to where Tony and Abby were moving the table and chairs to position the first book case.

It was pretty obvious to any outside observer what they were doing, so should they have been under surveillance then someone would be in to stop them shortly, if they cared or had any faith that the four of them could pull this off.

After stacking the bookcases solid back side up, one on top of another, Tony and Sam positioned two of the dressers. They would have used more but the pile was a little unstable at best. What made the most sense was Sam standing on the top of the furniture while Abby climbed onto his shoulders. He was the tallest of the group and she was the smallest and most flexible. There was metal tubing that housed electrical wiring running to the right and left of the skylight, something that she could hold onto while she beat the glass in. They could use the sheets as rope to then pull the rest of them up and out, once they were through. The plan came together in rapid succession as they all added their little pieces to it.

Sam was just glad that his sanity in question didn't hinder the trust that had to be placed in him out of necessity. The truth was that it didn't matter what they were up against if they could pull off this escape. He could get them to safety, find Dean, and come back to take care of the problem better prepared.

"I think it's safe to say that no one is watching." Tony got out a little winded as he grabbed a chair and turned it over on its back before he kicked a leg loose. He finished wrenching it from the seat, the noise enough to rouse suspicion. "Or listening," He smirked as he handed the leg to Abby careful to angle the side with the nails stick peaking out of it away from her grasp. "Your bat, my lady," Abby gave a dwindling smile as she looked up to the skylight and then over to Sam.

Sam climbed onto the top of the pile of furniture and then reached down to help Abby up as Tony and Reid watched them carefully. Sam dipped low in a crouch so that Abby could climb onto his shoulders, and then hooked his arms over her legs to help hold her in place. "You good?" he asked her readying to stand.

"I've been better, but yeah." Her voice trembled.

"You can do this Abs." Tony promised her. "We've all got faith in you."

She nodded with a nervous smile and Sam rose to his feet widening his stance to gain more balance. She adjusted herself on his shoulders trying not to hit him with the chair leg and shifted her gaze up. "Hand me the sheets. I'm going to loop them around the tubing before I grab hold."

Reid climbed up and handed her the end of the make shift rope that they tied together and she quickly threaded it between the tubing and the glass, pulling it through until the sheet was hanging on the middle, both ends trailing nearly to the top of the pile they were standing on. "I sure hope this is strong enough to hold me." Abby whispered reaching for the tubing on each side of the glass.

Sam shifted her where she needed to go as she settled the sheet and then readied to climb up. He was supposed to move out of the way once she had herself secured to the tubing so that she could break the glass without sending it raining down on him possibly impaling him. Suddenly though everything changed.

It was in the air, vapors escaped from Sam's mouth in a puff of visible condensing moisture just as the hair on the back of his neck and arms gave a standing ovation to the gooseflesh that was wavering over his entire body. The lights flickered and in the moment before they came back on there was a flash where the entire room looked to be filled with dark figures. It was crowd, wall to wall, all shapes and sizes, fairly translucent standing rigidly straight but all turned to face them. It was just a flash, but it was enough to send fear dancing through Sam's veins.

"What the…" Tony whirled around.

"Did you guys…see…" Reid paled looking about dumbfounded.

"I think you need to get down, Abby." Sam wasn't offering it as an opinion. He was already shifting to pull her off his shoulders. As if to drive the point further home the lights did more than flicker, they failed. "Right now…"

Lightning flashed across the sky illuminating the room for a brief second to reveal the crowd moving in on them arms outstretched. Tony jumped as though seeing it again only gave it more credence and he backed away from where he'd seen the last figure backing himself toward Sam and Abby.

"Could this be…hologra…" Reid was cut off with a shiver as one of them moved through him.

"This is real!" Sam yelled as he realized that Abby had frozen on his shoulders. "Abby, come on. If they've been here the whole time they didn't feel the need to show themselves until we started this. We were being watched, we just didn't realize it." He was floundering. He didn't have any salt and he just had to pray that these guys didn't want to hurt them. Iron, Sam closed his eyes picturing the room in his mind. "Abby I know this is scary, but if you get down and we put things back I think they'll leave."

"O…o…kay," Finally she shifted and he was able to get a better hold of her to pull her down and into his arms before he set her on her feet. Another flash of lightning came and went and in the blink of an eye Sam was pushing Abby behind his back as he stepped them both back away from some sort of sudden snarl and ghastly gnashing of teeth. It didn't look human, far from it. There was a high pitched screech from its general direction. Sam kept a hand on Abby and steered her towards the floor feeling several spirits pass though them on the way. The screech was getting louder as if the other spirits were joining in with the first.

By the time Sam and Abby's feet were firmly planted on the floor it was deafening. Pain stabbed through Sam's head so badly that his hands went instinctively to his ears and his legs were buckling. Time passed at a fevered crawl and he lost all account of who was where. He wasn't sure how long it lasted but when it finally passed his ears were ringing so loud that he had to wonder if he could hear at all.

The light flickered and then danced back to life, but what it revealed was anything but comforting. Tony and Reid were on the floor on their knees near him all of them slowly uncurling, pulling their hands from their ears as they looked around in shock. The room had been restored to its former glory, everything right back where it went and Abby was nowhere in sight.

OoOoOoOoO

A/N: Alrighty, so finally chapter four is finished! Thanks so much for all the reviews. I really appreciate them and have a few responses. It is known as the gap theory, and yeah it does have its weaknesses, but hopefully the story won't disappoint. I actually didn't know that's what the actual theory was called, I'd heard it but didn't have a name to go with it – Thanks for clarifying that for me Raven Woods role should become more apparent soon. I realize that even with over 7,000 words in this two part chapter that I didn't cover some of the stuff I said I was going to cover in this chapter but rest assured there will be more clarity.

Next Time: Garcia traces the hacker that Bobby used back to him causing delays in casting the ritual to find Sam and they are finally brought in to meet the BAU and NCIS teams. Gibbs finds out what Raven Wood is up and gets his first glimpse of Nam. Abby returns to the captives and Sam finally comes face to face with Kabaiel.

Well there it is. I hope everyone enjoys and yet again, don't be shy with the reviews!


	6. Chaos Theory

**Where Angels Fear to Tread**

**Then:** _Dean unwittingly wagered his life for a little info on Kabaiel and a ritual that will locate Sam. Bobby had a friend of Rufus hack into the FBI to get the current information on the BAU's case. Sam told the others the gist of his job, but left out a lot of details. The captives planned an escape but were stopped in the middle of their attempt by a mass of spirits controlled by Kabaiel._

**Now…**

**Chapter Five: Chaos Theory **

The threads that were supposed to be coming together were doing anything but. They were frayed and twisting into some razor sharp web with no discernable pattern. Gibbs had seen a lot in his time, but this was something different, a horse of a different color. They had missing people they couldn't track, dead people with no common links, global serial killer or killers with a knack for graffiti, painting some sort of battle of good versus evil. There was a bomb that Ziva couldn't identify other then it was like an EMP and packed a dense electrical punch. They had hackers and mercenaries for hire and 3 federal personnel missing. What they didn't have was a suspect, a mode of transport, or a profile.

And right now all they had to follow up on was the Raven Wood Security Company and a hacker that Garcia and McGee were trying to track down. There was no evidence at the crime scenes, even in the pits where they found the latest victims. They couldn't find what was used as an accelerant, they couldn't find fibers, they couldn't find jack squat. He kept expecting things to make sense the further they got into this one, but so far connect the dots wasn't working.

They were all tired. They were all scared to death about their missing friends and lovers. Gibbs felt helpless and desperation was creeping in, slithering right under his skin. Abby was like a daughter to him and Tony…Tony was him 15 years ago. Gibbs washed another handful of water down his face and met his own eyes in the mirror. He had to find a way to save them.

Fifteen minutes later found him more composed, but still very visibly anxious as he made his way through the office towards the team's desks. He was just rounding the corner hearing the tell tale typing that made McGee's position. "How are you two coming on that hacker?" He would have cut McGee some slack, but the boy didn't want it. He could tell that he was sick with worry over Tony and Abby. Ziva wasn't showing it as much, but the underlying emotion was brimming under the surface, readable in her eyes.

"The FBI in Tuscan just picked up the hacker and they're tracing where he sent the information. It looks like he was hired to do the job for a third party." McGee replied.

"Let me know as soon as you have the hiring party." Gibbs gave him a nod as he looked to Ziva who had been tracing the security companies last known jobs and movements.

"The company claims that the wanted man, Gregory Downs is no longer employed with their outfit, but FBI sources have him still operating with the organization." Ziva explained without waiting for him to ask.

"Where are they now?"

"The entire company has relocated to Lima, Peru and Easter Island to help with the relief efforts there." No sooner were the words out of her mouth then Gibbs was on the move, motioning for her to follow.

"I'll be in MTAC." Gibbs called to McGee as he rounded the stairs and started up. "Ziva, have you ever known a 'security' company to be involved in humanitarian efforts?"

"Not unless there was a profit to be made." Ziva shook her head. "They are soldiers, not humanitarians."

"So why are they there and what's the connection with this case?" Gibbs got authorization at the door before motioning Ziva to follow him in. It was a rhetorical question meant to be answered by the next course of action. The room was free for use with a technician running some diagnostics to the left.

"I need some real time Sat from the pacific in the vicinity of Easter Island, authorization on the grounds of suspected terrorist activity." It was a stretch, but one that Gibbs could make stick. If these three guys from the company were wanted for crimes against humanity, the questions about his current actions could be swept under the rug of his choosing. If they had any hope of saving any of their missing people he needed real information to finally start putting this puzzle together and he would scrape by with whatever piss- poor lead he had.

Gibbs grabbed a head set and pulled it on, eyes locking onto the screen as the technician gave a surprised "Yes, Sir," and then floundered about to make it all happen. Luckily it looked as if the cloud cover was isolated to the storm front over Chili giving them a clear line of sight to the island. Ziva stood at his side, watching the screen in silence as they both waited for the picture to come into focus.

Layer by layer the satellite penetrated the Earth's atmosphere to give them a clearer view of the island. The feed stopped and clarified on a large aerial of the whole Island. Gibbs turned his head to tell the tech to get in tighter but paused and turned back when he realized that the black dots hovering in large swaths over the most populated area were birds circling. He moved towards the large display and motioned to the area that had peaked his interest. "Get in tighter, here."

The island was small with a main village located in the area that he was sure they were zooming in. The dotted homes that spread out from the village were sparse and isolated, but he could already see movement as the satellite crept in to get a picture of the struggles of the locals and tourists that had been trapped on the Island since the flood in Santiago had rendered all bi-weekly flights to and from impossible.

The clearer the picture got, though, the more Gibbs felt dread eroding his heart. They panned in past the birds, to a large clearing in the midst of the village, specs of people becoming more and more visible as they got closer. Unfortunately most of those specs were all lying in a huge hole that was being filled in by bulldozers as a handful of specs managed the project. "I need you to get in tighter." Gibbs voice was choked with emotion as he was watching all the specs, trying to narrow it down to who was in charge out there.

"I'm at the edge of clarity, if I push in much tighter, it's going to get distorted."

"Just try it…" Gibbs felt Ziva's hand brush against his arm as a gasp escaped her lips both of them catching the same thing on the screen. One of the specs in the hole had bolted from the pit, scrambling to make an escape, a few others followed, and all four were gunned down in a heartbeat. "Those people…"

"They are still alive." Ziva finished for him in horror.

Gibbs was speechless for a second as his mind swam with what to do next. Someone was killing off the islands inhabitants in mass and the Raven Wood Security Company seemed to be neck deep in it. They needed to get those people some help, but the island was so isolated that the fasted anyone could get there would depend on the ships in the area. A flight took 12 hours.

"We need to contact the Chilean government and let them know what's going on on their Island. Find out if there are any ships in the vicinity that have the capabilities to provide support…" Gibbs broke off as the picture suddenly grew more clarified, crystal clear in fact. The feed focused on one woman, standing in the midst of it all, who impossibly looked straight at them as if she was looking directly into the lens of a video camera. Dark tuffs of ebony locks framed her face and tapered shorter around her ears. Her mahogany eyes bore an old soul and peered straight through him with a gaze that could bring a man to his knees. Full lips twisted into a half smile at one corner as she suddenly winked at them.

Gibbs ripped the headset from his head and broke for a run; barely making it to the small trash can beside the tech's console before he lost what little he'd managed to choke down at lunch into the can. It was hard to describe what came over him. He'd suddenly been bombarded by…if he had to give it a name he would say…evil. Death and decay had encroached on his very soul muddled around some psychotic bliss at the very thought of killing. By the time it receded he was shaking over the garbage can, trying to hold back bile as he realized that the feed had gone dark. "Can you get it back up?"

"Something's wrong with the satellite, Sir." Gibbs nodded in frustration. "Find what it is and fix it. Let me know when you have the feed again."

Gibbs finally straightened, trying to put this into some context. He didn't know what had just happened, but like hell was he backing off. "Get the FBI on the phone. We need to have a sit down." He told Ziva before he took in her pallor realizing that she'd been affected by whatever that was as well, but they were both trying to pull it together. "I think we're dealing with a global cult on a mass murdering spree."

And that just opened up a whole new line of questions, not the least of which was why had they taken their agents?

They cleared the stairwell on their way to collect their gear and to make a stop long enough for Ziva to get the call through when McGee met them clearly with news of his own. "We traced the fax from the hacker to a Salvage Yard in Sioux Falls, South Dakota owned by a man named Bobby Singer. The BAU said we can hitch a ride with them and the jet should be ready in half an hour."

"Good than we can talk on the plane," Gibbs nodded. "Grab your gear."

OoOoOoOoO

Passions had died hard, almost as hard as Dean had crashed. The lingering anger had dissipated as they locked into research and planning mode. Cas had run off to Angel land to find out what his underlings knew and Bobby had started calling in favors in order to pool together all the ingredients on the Witch of Endor's ritual list, to locate Sam. It wasn't an easy list to come by.

Dean jerked awake in a bolt of action, obviously throwing off the shadows of lingering nightmares. The book that was resting on his chest slid into the floor and he quickly blinked as if to erase whatever horror had been playing out behind those lids. Bobby cleared his throat and turned the next page in the volume he was reading. "Rufus is bringing those two extinct herbs that we needed." He gave him the update.

Dean nodded slowly with a sniff and a shake of his head to further clear his addled mind. It was almost as if he was being drawn into something surreal and he wasn't sure why it was so hard to shake, like the dream didn't want to let him go. He licked at his lips and finally looked up to meet Bobby's eyes. It was just being over tired and worrying about Sam. "What else do we need? How far out is he?"

"He's about 3 hours out and we still need that stone of Vorna."

"What's that?"

"It's a gall stone from the Bear in the Vornic region of Siberia." Bobby was exhausted and it was obvious. Dean was the one with the sleep and that hadn't afforded Bobby with any. Dean felt the guilt creeping in already. "I've tried just about every source I've got. No one has one."

"I'll see what I can find…Did you get the Cobra eyes?" Dean stretched as he climbed to his feet.

"Yeah, I had a few sets in the basement." Bobby gave a half nod and took a swig from the glass of amber liquid before him on the desk. Dean arched an eyebrow at him but let it go. There was plenty of stuff in the trunk of the Impala that a lot of hunters would arch an eyebrow at.

"Listen why don't you get some sleep. I can man the phones. It's not like we've got much else to do while we're waiting on Rufus and Cas," Dean waited for Bobby's nod but he never got it, the guy was past nodding – really nodding. He was as tired as Dean has been when he'd crashed. He grabbed a pillow off the couch and threw it at Bobby, hoping that it served as both message and messenger, telling him it was time for bed.

"Point made, wake me up when Cas gets back."

"Yeah."

Bobby disappeared down the hall and Dean headed to the shower. Half an hour later he emerged feeling like a new man. Bobby's soft snores filled his ears as he made his way into the living room and sank into the seat behind the desk.

"We've located the emerald." Dean almost jumped out of his skin. Cas was back, just to the left of him at his back.

"Geez, Cas, give a guy some warning." Dean replied then beckoned him to continue with a half shrug and a wave of his hand.

"It's on a remote island being used by a woman, presumably Kabaiel's adversary, Nammu. She's heavily guarded and employing the services of a mercenary group probably until she can amass her spiritual army."

"Yeah, she'll probably turn on them after." Dean nodded. "Was, Sam..."

"He's not there."

"Guess we're still going with the ritual then. Which means that we're going to need a gall stone from a bear that lives in some place in Siberia." Dean turned in the chair to get a better look at Cas.

"A stone of Vorna?"

"Does everyone know about this thing, but me?" Dean scoffed.

"I will retrieve one." Cas gave a nod and disappeared.

"Tha..." Dean let the word die as he realized he was alone once more.

An hour later with the scent of breakfast wafting through the cluttered home, Cas reappeared in blood soaked glory, his hand wrapped around something small. Dean barely gave him a cursory glance. "Thought you'd be back half an hour ago."

"I had to make another stop. The fighting over Heaven didn't stop just because your world is endanger again." There was chastisement in the latter statement.

"How's that going?" Dean turned away from the stove and pulled the dishtowel from his shoulder to wipe his hands.

"There are good days and bad. I have the upper hand for now, it's why I've been able to help with this more." Cas explained though it was c lear that he wasn't in the mood for conversation. "Here's the stone." He placed it on the counter and met Dean's eyes. "I have to go, but I will be back soon." With no more information, not even a pause for a response from Dean, Cas was gone.

Dean gave a small shake of his head then turn his nose up at the bloody little rock looking thing that Cas had placed on the counter. He was so glad that Cas had been able to get the item, considering what the alternative would have entailed. He was already scared to death about what shape they might find Sam in with the time they'd already spent looking, but this was their only bet now.

They almost had all the ingredients to start the ritual and if Kabaiel could be reasoned with then plan A might work and Sam could be home by morning, if not then plan B would go into effect and they'd have to take on the angel and his spirits, that plan meant a war. Getting Sam back was one dilemma, getting the emerald was another and Dean had been worrying on that one too. If this Nammu chick had an army already at her disposal then he might just be in for another death. They weren't there yet, though, and getting Sam back was the first priority.

OoOoOoOoO

The two hour flight had done a lot to help the two groups focus on the information that they had in hand on both sides. In the end it was decided that the preliminary thinking was indeed a cult as Gibbs gut had told him. The idea that it was global was something that needed more confirmation but credence was given in that the Chilean government had been having communication issues with Easter island for days, couple that with Raven Wood going off the grid as soon as they left Lima and the scenario that Gibbs had described on the island wasn't being scoffed at.

What they needed now were names. Personnel lists from Raven Wood if they could tie them to the recent murders on US soil, were a major priority and Garcia and JJ were working to make that a reality. Meanwhile they had the man who'd ordered a hack on the FBI strictly for information on the current case, telling them that he had some involvement and he was accessible.

"We're landing in ten." Morgan propped himself up to look over the seats surrounding the small table where Hotch was going over the file on Bobby Singer. The man had some friends who were known criminals, but they'd never had anything on him. The most recent case was one that involved a man by the name of Rufus Turner. He'd been extradited to Sioux Falls on a murder charge from Andover and slipped his collar under the watch of the local sheriff, Jody Mills. The FBI had been involved then, but nothing came of it.

Hotch and Gibbs were working on the main details of the plan, both to save on time and to make a coordinated effort. Hotch and McGee would head to the police station to fill the locals in while the rest of the teams went to intercept Mr. Singer at his home. They could bring him back to the local station for questioning. Should formal charges be filed that could extradite him to D.C.

Upon touch down, they got their rentals and were on their way. This case had been baffling them long enough.

OoOoOoOoO

Dean slid the rest of the food into the frig with the intent of hitting the books once again, when one of the phones rang along Bobby's wall of 'Official' government agencies. Looked like someone was calling to verify a CDC agent. Dean quickly riffled through the cards on the desk to find the CDC person that Bobby was supposed to be. "CDC , Harris speaking." Dean answered quickly.

"This is Dr. Andrea Hart from New Hope General in Flagstaff. I'm verifying authorization for CDC involvement in the outbreak we've had here. I've been speaking with a Dr. Olivia King." Dean tucked his bottom lip in nervously. He was so not used to this. Bobby probably already knew the ins and outs of the case.

"Dr. King has our full authorization, give her anything she needs. Her instincts are rock solid." Dean hoped so anyway. "I'm sorry I'm about to be late for a meeting, if you need anything else try me back after 1:00pm." He hoped Bobby could handle it by then.

"I'm sorry to keep you away from your meeting Mr. Harris, but I'm having trouble with the need for CDC personnel over our flu outbreak. I know the numbers are high and we've had a few deaths, but the..."

"Ma'am I assure you that the CDC is well aware of your situation and we have concerns, if you'll simply work with Dr. King, I'm sure she can fill you in on more of the details." Dean froze as he caught some movement from the corner of his eye out the kitchen window.

"I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt already, but I'm still rerunning the results of the blood tests that she got back with sulfur in them." Dean felt himself torn as he watched the window for further movement and fought to listen to this doctor who'd just grabbed his attention with the sulfur in the blood thing. The last time they'd seen that was with Lucifer's Croatoan virus. They'd destroyed the means to distributed and Dean hoped that would be the end of it. All those down with the plan were wither dead or locked up. Plus flu symptoms were a far cry away from the murderous rage that the people infected with the Croatoan virus exhibited.

"Go ahead and rerun them, but I caution you not to hinder Dr. King. She's only there to help." Dean assured her as he caught another footfall and this time actually saw the man moving around the side of the house. Shit. "Ma'am I really must go." He didn't give her a chance to tie him up once more and quickly hung up the phone as he grabbed his gun off the counter, where he'd stored it while he worried with breakfast.

Dean moved through the house as quietly as possible as he ducked the windows, so as now to reveal his position. He slid into the room with Bobby and quickly shook him awake. "We've got company." Dean pulled back the curtains in the bedroom as he flattened himself against the wall aside the window sill. "I've counted at least two, but I saw more shadows when I was coming to you." Dean whispered. He narrowed his eyes as he caught the navy glint of a vest from another figure and cursed under his breath. "Bobby I think their feds."

"Son of a Bitch." Bobby threw the covers back and got to his feet in a rush. "Hide the gun, they're going to knock. Jody might be able to get us out of whatever this is. If they're surrounding then must think we're going to run."

"I'm not so sure we shouldn't, Bobby. Someone's got to get to Sam." Dean argued anger bleeding into his voice.

"You gonna be able to grab all the ingredients for that ritual we have scattered around the house before your great escape, Dean?" Bobby met his tone with vehemence. "Where's Cas?"

"I don't know." Dean looked ready to tear someone's head off. "He got the stone of Vorna and then said he'd be back soon." They both looked to the door when a loud knock reverberated through the house.

"Federal Agents, we're here for Robert Singer." Came the call.

"Holy..." Bobby met Dean's eyes in widened terror.

"Look they're just here for you, maybe I can talk them around taking me in..."

"Guilt by association." Bobby shook his head not thinking it would work. "But it's worth a try."

Bobby let out a deep breath. "Coming!" He called to the door as he turned to meet Dean's eyes, the fear resting between them like a dense fog.

Dean hung back. He'd stashed his gun in Bobby's bedroom, if they patted him down, at least he wouldn't be carrying without a permit. Hell if he was brought in at all and fingerprinted then they were all in for a shock. He's been legally dead twice already. He'd been literally dead way more than that.

Bobby pulled the door open and looked over the two agents that stood before him. One was a little taller than himself with salt and pepper graying hair and a fair amount of facial hair, the other was also a senior agent. The second had a trimmer frame but they both were no nonsense kind of guys. Bobby could tell that just from the cursory glance that he gave them. "Bobby Singer?" The one that spoke waited for Bobby to a give a nod and a wave of his hand as if to say yes before he went on. "I'm SSA David Rossi with the FBI. This is special agent Gibbs with NCIS. This is a federal search warrant for the grounds, house, and vehicles present on your property. We'll also be bringing you in for some questioning about your implication in hacking a FBI database. Whose your friend back there?"

"Just a family friend. He was passing through and stopped by to say hi." Bobby replied evenly. "I'm not sure what's going on, but..." He motioned about the cluttered and disorganized house, his archaic computer evident in the corner of the front room. "I'm no hacker."

"As soon as we verify that then I'm sure we'll have no reason to detain you or your friend further. If you two could come with us." Gibbs spoke up motioning them out the door.

Bobby looked back to Dean pleading him with his eyes to come without a fuss. If they took out federal agents in an attempt to get away then all bets were off and finding Sam would be the least of their worries. They'd figure out another way out of this. God knows that they'd be up shit creak once the federal boys went through the house with a fine tooth comb. The weapons and possibly bodies were only the icing on the cake.

"Sure." Dean grabbed his jacket, meeting Bobby's eyes as if to answer his silent plea as well as the agents.

OoOoOoOoO

It had been a long night. There was a lot of silence that followed the ghost show and Abby's disappearance an uneasy sort of acceptance of things they knew not of. In the end Tony had fallen asleep at the table, passed out really, he didn't mean to. When he woke though, Reid was out too and Abby was laying on her stomach just past the door, not moving.

Tony felt his heart slip into the pit of his stomach as he pushed himself self to his feet and made a mad dash for Abby. He hit his knees quickly pulling her to him, seeing her breath coming in soft ins and outs, her chest moving just enough. She wasn't covered in sand as he had been upon his return to the room, but her state of unconsciousness and some bruising against her wrists told him that she'd had it rough.

Tony closed his eyes and exhaled sharply. He'd never felt like things were unraveling so fast, but the fact that there were others to protect helped him to hold onto his sanity. He got to his feet, pulled Abby into his arms and started towards her alcove to tuck her in. Reid met him at the edge of his alcove, rubbing his eyes. "I didn't mean to fall asleep." He hushed his tone when he saw Abby and then made a quick survey of the room.

Tony heard Reid follow and looked over his shoulder as the lanky man paused at the boundaries of her alcove while Tony got her settled in the bed. "Sam's gone." Reid explained in a whisper.

Tony gave a soft nod and finished getting her settled, checking her over once more before he looked back over his shoulder and made a shh sound upon making his way back to the center of the large room. "Maybe he'll find something out that we don't already know." Tony whispered as he looked at his bed. "We should rest up, we're no going to get out of this if we're all on the edge of exhaustion. We can talk when Sam gets back, try and make some more sense out of the crazies."

Reid gave a nod and headed back to his alcove, the heaviness of their despair hanging over them from the lack of sleep and coherence to this whole mess.

OoOoOoOoO

Sam jerked awake biting back a scream as the motion caught in blinding white pain against his shackled wrists and ankles. He fell silent fighting black fragmented vision as he waited for the pain to abate. It was a slow dwindle and it only managed to get to the 'holy hell that hurts' level as a dark figure towered over his prone form.

"You shouldn't struggle." The man's face swam into focus, shrouded by a dark hood that had fallen over as he leaned forward. "I know it's uncomfortable, but you have to understand that you need more of my blood than any of the others and I'm afraid that it's not the same as a demons. Oh..." a soft smile played against the monster's shadow hued lips. "I'm being rude, I'm Kabaiel."

"Right..." Sam got it out in a hiss as he looked down his left arm to the IV. Sam followed the tubing to a large bag of blood hanging there and felt horror sink in bone deep. He'd already been on this crazy train and he didn't want to go through it again.

"Relax, Sam. As I said it's not the same. I've tied you down for your own protection, however. You might have a reaction to it, considering how much of the demon blood you've consumed over your existence. I'm just making sure that you don't hurt yourself."

"Yeah so you can keep me safe until you kill me?" Sam asked in confused wonder.

"I'm a good master, Sam. Fair. You could do worse." Sam could swear there was a smile playing at those shrouded lips. "I'm giving you the chance to save the world again. And I have to commend your sacrifice with Lucifer."

Sam's whole face contorted as he realized that this this guy thought that the spirits that served him were being honored. "No offense, but when I saved the world before I was human, not a ghost and I'd like to have that chance again. We all would, being reduced to spiritual soldiers won't make us stronger." Sam wasn't sure it was the right thing to say, but he could see that this Kabaiel was mulling it over.

"You often don't realize what's best for you though," Kabaiel finally replied.

"I know that we don't, but honestly, we do perform better corporeal and I can tell...I...can...t..t...t." Sam gave a choked gasp as blessed unconsciousness consumed him and his whole body convulsed from the infusion of blood running through his veins.

OoOoOoOoO

I soo hope that I didn't run anyone off with this chapter. There was so much information to get through. I'll be slowing up a bit to give a more emotional few chapters in the near future.

Thanks so much for the nifty reviews.

**Lol yeah Sam does feel a lot like he's giving a sermon at an atheist convention, I loved that analogy.**

**I'm glad you like the Vid samsangel and the plot :)**

**Yes the spirits are there to prevent any sort of escape and by the end of the next chapter they should have all met their first death. I don't want to dwell on the actual deaths, more the aftermath and trying to get out of there.**

**Lol oh yeah Dean should have known better than to shake hands, I think he was just caught in the moment. **

**And yes I think that Bobby, should they ever get through all this will threaten Dean about making any kind of deals in the future. :P **

I'm so glad that you guys are liking the uniqueness of the storyline and I have to confess that I already have a sequel planned if anyone actually wants to stick it out to the end of this one :P

Gaw school ate me alive the last two weeks which is why I didn't update sooner, but I have a little break.

Ok so next time: The NCIS and Criminal Minds crews interrogate Bobby and Dean. Gibbs has a vision, Sam finally wakes up with the others having slept through Reid deathly encounter, and Cas makes several appearances. Also one of the NCIS team will be unexpectedly spirited away.


	7. AN

This is just an A/N…sorry for not updating yet. School is kicking my butt, so I won't be able to update until the semester is over, probably around mid June…this story isn't abandoned. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and I hope everyone comes back to read when I am able to start updating once more. Thanks Everyone!


	8. Humble Pie

_**A/N: I know it's been a while. I hope that there are still folks around that want to read this little endeavor. Real life has taken me for one hell of a ride lately.**_

**Chapter Six: Humble Pie**

It was like a Godsend, the break that they had all been waiting for, Christmas for crime scene investigators everywhere. Prentiss studied a patch of wall that had been converted into a bulletin board between a set of solid book shelves, brimming with occult and religious texts of the obscure.

It was their entire case along with what the NCIS had been able to lend, the bodies, dates, places, pits, cult. But the footnotes were something altogether different. Written around the newspaper clippings and internet printouts were notes such as "Ask Cas," and "Raphael?"

"This map has every location of every murder we're investigating in this case," Morgan was on the other side of the room at another bulletin board converted piece of wall space. "So why are their three more pegs than we have victims?"

"They're either the killers…," Prentiss turned worriedly as she realized the implication of what Morgan was saying. There were three victims that they didn't even know about. "Or they're running an investigation of their own."

"If they're not involved in the cult maybe their opposed." Morgan took a stab. He needed to look around the house more to draw a more substantiated claim. "Looks like they were putting together a list of ingredients," Morgan had moved onto to the desk where a half empty bottle of whiskey sat next to an empty glass. "Who's Sammy?" Morgan picked up the piece of paper with the ingredient list with a gloved hand and held it up so that Emily could see the name scrawled at the top as if it was what the recipe would yield.

"Sam Winchester?" Rossi walked back into the room from the basement. "We just got a hit on the guests' fingerprint. He's been legally dead twice, both in the middle of ongoing investigations, the latter of which was in FBI custody in which several agents and deputies were killed supposedly along with both Dean and his brother Sam Winchester." Rossi's voice broke at the mention of their fallen brethren.

"I remember that," Morgan whispered with a tight swallow. "Hendrickson believed that they were raised like soldiers to fight monsters by their father."

"That fits with the good vs. evil profile of our unsub," Prentiss piped in. "The supporting occult and religious literature lends more support and the multiple phone lines with investigative branches of governmental agencies supports a wider network of others with this same delusion."

"They're trying to blend in on investigative cases while they're monster hunting." Morgan nodded. "So now the question is are they hunting the monsters we're after?"

"Or are they monsters?" Rossi followed.

"And where is Sammy?" Ziva moved into the room from the kitchen, having just returned from the yard. "There is an Impala in the yard with an arsenal of weapons, guns, knives, swords, stakes, and many herbal and strange artifacts as well as unique munitions. It also harbors fake ID's for both the Dean and Sam that you previously mentioned."

"The basement here was similar and there was an iron bunker with occult symbols everywhere." Rossi confirmed. "Singer is definitely in on whatever their working on or at least a research hub."

Prentiss did not like where this was heading, they had either stumbled onto a link in the cult chain or another investigating body. And yet she still felt as though they were only inches closer than they had been before to locating Reid.

Ziva was slow to speak next for she was worried of interjecting hope at such a tedious point in their investigation, but she still held so much for Tony and Abby and swallowed a forming knot before she could explain the other reason she had come inside. She slowly withdrew the bagged metallic blunt ended sword like weapon she found in the trunk. "I believe I may have found the murder weapon."

All eyes fell on the weapon as it seemed one question was answered. If it was true, than there was a good possibility they had found their monsters. There should have been some measure of comfort there after chasing a cold trail for so long, but there was something even more unsettling about it, for all around them there was a testament to the type of monsters they could be looking at, and there was no sign of their team members here.

Prentiss looked away, blinking back the emotion as she deterred her gaze to the window and the agents still combing the yard beyond. She was just to the point of composing herself when she noticed a black fog or swarm, something moving fluidly. She jumped as it passed the window, the thickness of the swarm unlike anything she'd ever seen.

"Prentiss?" Morgan asked coming up from behind as he noticed her pallor.

"Did you see…?" She broke off as she pressed in closer to the window, trying to find the swarm to show Morgan, but it was gone. "I…" Something deep within her was set to tremble, a shaking that wasn't easy to start within in her soul. She swallowed it down, trying to hide the fear as she looked back to Morgan, hoping to put on a brave face for him. "It was nothing," She managed a small smile in response, hoping that he didn't see through her façade while she silently prayed that it wasn't the bad omen that she felt it was.

_**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**_

Gibbs angled his head quizzically as he watched the man he now knew was Dean Winchester, presumed dead twice now, letting his head fall onto the long worn desk that had probably been a part from the Sioux Falls police station since its inception. This guy wasn't vibing the way he expected a killer of his capacity to.

Obviously these were capable people, they slipped under the radar, feeling at home as FBI, Homeland Security, a host of other investigative agencies, and they didn't raise concern enough to bring them onto their radar. They looked the part when they chose to.

Gibbs crossed his arms with a frown. What he saw before him was a soldier, a battle worn soldier fighting an inward battle just to keep moving, to just make it to the end of his mission. This was a man broken and pieced back together. He was as much a veteran as the man who sat in the other interrogation room.

Now he just had to find out what battle he thought he was fighting.

There was something else that was nagging at him though, something, primitive and animal. That fear, not fear of incarceration or even just the confinement, it was that knotted ball of terror like the one Gibbs felt in his own gut. It was the fear of loss, fear of losing something that could never be given back. What he saw in Dean's eyes was the fear that he might lose someone he loved.

Gibbs had seen that same look in the mirror not half an hour before. It was exactly how he felt about Abby and Tony. After Garcia had sent a couple of interviews with Dean that the FBI had collected on him Hotch advised him that Dean was their best bet at finding out exactly what the delusion that they all bought into was.

Dean seemed fairly comfortable rattling off what he thought was the truth. However, deluded these two were, Gibbs believed that they held answers that the teams so desperately needed, but he had serious doubts that these were the guys they were looking for. He wouldn't know for sure until he had a talk with them.

Gibbs tucked the file folder under his arm and grabbed the bagged sword like weapon. Ducky had used pictures to confirm that the weapon matched the dimensions that they were looking for in the wound patterns of all their victims.

Gibbs shoved the door open nonchalantly and headed in.

Dean's head shot up as soon as he heard the door open and Gibbs gave him a cursory glance, making sure no sudden movements accompanied his gaze. Gibbs closed the door behind him and slipped into the seat across the table from him, setting first the file folder down, and then the placing the weapon next to it.

Gibbs was quiet, watching as Dean's eyes widened at the weapon. He played the act down fairly well, feigning more disinterest a moment later. "Familiar?" Gibbs asked him.

Gibbs felt a pinch of surprise at the lack of fear that Dean showed upon meeting his eyes. "I've seen a few," Dean huffed out impatiently, shifting in his seat as he looked to the interrogation room door.

"This is yours," Gibbs gave a nod in the direction of the weapon and Dean gave it a closer look, knowing better than to reach for it. "It was in your Impala, Dean."

Gibbs felt the air change as soon as Dean realized he knew his identity, as soon as he realized that he wasn't going to be leaving any time soon. Silence followed as Dean clenched his jaw, giving another look to the door. "Look, I don't care what you guys think is going on. You've got angel corpses covering multiple states and there's no telling who you geniuses think is to blame. I could tell you all about what's really going on, only problem is some fallen whatever that predates man has my brother and your people and the only chance in hell we have to find them is back at Bobby's."

Gibbs blinked at him, listening intently to every word, but he couldn't fully hide the disbelief. He could tell that Dean read people like a pro because he instantly picked up on it, his body shifting as he moved from mildly reserved in an effort to lay out what he believed was truth to frantic as he realized no one was buying it. It only served to fuel the sense of urgency.

"Cas!" Dean screamed out.

"What's Cas?"

"Who, Cas is a who, a pain in the ass who but a who." Dean replied in flustered glory. "CAS!"

"Why are you screaming his or her name?" Gibbs asked in wonder, not quite pushed to the point of screaming back.

"Because he doesn't have a sense of good timing and it's hard to hear over the civil war in heaven," Dean retorted sharply. "Guilt by association," Dean whispered angrily under his breath as he yanked hard against the cuffs that connected him to the table. "Sure Bobby, go in for questioning, not like that's gonna go bad. Castiel!"

"Cas is an angel?" Gibbs finally picked up on it.

"Brilliant deduction Clouseau," Dean shot back.

"And the victims are angels," Gibbs asked quickly, trying to get a handle on this guy's particular delusion.

"Right, Kabiel and Nammu are both raising an army to war on earth, having one side of heaven or hell on their side will help."

"Heaven and Hell are both in the middle of a civil war?" Gibbs asked for clarification, trying to draw out more and more. This was one hell of an intricate delusion.

Dean was settling little by little seeing that his options were limited and that his, by Gibbs definition "imaginary" friend wasn't showing up. Gibbs could only hope that he would be more forthcoming as he calmed. There was still a strong undercurrent of worry though and that anxious need to get away. "Let's say there was a regime change a few months back, the new kings are on shaky ground, time to prove their worth. Everyone wants a piece of 'em." Dean explained. "Cas tried to step into Michael's old role, Raphael isn't happy about it. Then there's Crowley, he took over for Lucifer and well, Meg's a bitch, still wants to prove to Daddy-I-Gotta-go-so-bad-my-eyes-are-floating that she's on top."

Gibbs was letting the rambling go as he quietly opened his manila folder and began to sift through some glossy 8X10's. He pulled out the first victim and slid the picture across the table. "Tell me about this…"

Dean gave the photo a glance, clearing not off put by the sight of death or blood. "That's a human who said yes to being inhabited by an angel, you'll find that all of your victims were devout in their faith."

"You read the file after the FBI database was hacked." Gibbs scoffed.

"I didn't have to read the file," Dean shook his head.

"But you did see it?" this was too easy. The kid didn't even care.

"Yes, I saw the file. And I'm sure it was a novel read full of half-baked ideas about who this zany killer is." Dean sighed. "Look, you guys want to catch the bad guys, I respect that, but you wouldn't know how to handle them if you ever met face to face."

"So tell me," Gibbs offered.

Dean narrowed his eyes as if to ask if this guy was for real. "Angels, you have to use that." Dean motioned to the sword. "Some are more powerful than others, angels and the sword. You can send them away if you know the right sigil and you don't mind playing with blood." Dean licked at his lips nervously.

"You don't believe what you're saying," Gibbs frowned as he straightened. What he meant was that portions of Dean's statements seemed to send up cues that the BAU had asked him to look for, saying that he doubted his own words.

"Kabiel and Nammu are the baddest of the bad here and I don't know how to kill either of them yet." Dean confided. "They aren't angels, they aren't demons, Hell I'd settle for a pagan god right about now."

"Why did you decline representation, you seem like a smart guy." Despite the crazy talk, Gibbs could see it.

Dean met his eyes with a half smirk that didn't make it to his eyes. "I don't live in your world. I defend it and trust me that isn't some superhero or delusional complex talking. I just want to get my brother back so we can do whatever it is we just keep on doing."

"What is that?" Gibbs felt more like a shrink than an investigator at the moment, but he just had to know. He felt a tendril of pain snake through his head but pushed it aside as Dean met his eyes and the both of them were silent for a moment.

"Saving lives," Dean whispered with a hard measure of guilt laden in his voice. Gibbs was about to ask him about his relationship with Bobby when he hear the barest turn of the doorknob to the room and he looked up just in time to see Prentiss slipping the door open.

Gibbs looked up in confusion. What was she doing? She had been with the BAU long enough to know how an interrogation worked? Had there been some break in the case? Gibbs started to push his chair back, just preparing to stand when a rush of something hit him hard.

In a heartbeat he flew the few feet between the table and the opposite wall, pinned halfway up, with his feet dangling over the floor.

Prentiss stepped into the room and the door slammed shut behind her without even a tap of her hand. Dean was already frantic in motion, jerking against the cuff as he quickly palmed Gibb's pen while turning to the FBI agent in alarm. "Crowley know you're here?" Dean asked quickly as he one handedly began to unscrew the pen.

"I'm not with Crowley, Dean." She smirked sinisterly.

"Meg?" Dean quickly yanked the top off the pen and grabbed the spring inside, already working to twist it out straight.

"Nam," She smiled brighter, impossibly wider, eyes going black.

"Seriously? You think Nam's going to share the pie with you? You bet on the wrong frickin horse, bitch." Dean promised who he assumed might be a her. "She send you to kill me?"

Prentiss smirked at that as Dean was suddenly immobilized against his chair. Gibbs fought to move, to do anything as he watched the scene unfolding in horror. She made her way over in a seductive saunter and then straddled Dean, lovingly letting her fingers wisp through his hair a stroke at a time. "After the almost Armageddon, you and Sam became enemy numero uno. Nam doesn't want you as enemies" She leaned down and captured his ear lobe between her teeth and lips. Dean grimaced from the contact.

"Should I be flattered?" Dean forced out between clenched teeth.

"You can be whatever you want, Sugar. Just hold still while I rip your heart out." Prentiss cocked her head and poised her fist over his chest ready to thrust her palm through to grab said organ.

There was a mad scramble going on outside the door, only evident by the various faces that made it into view through the small window on the interrogation room door as various methods were tried to get into the room, including kicking the door in.

Every pound of the door and twist of the knob was met with nothing, the door seemingly more solid than anything they had at NCIS or the BAU. Gibbs was trying his damndest to pry himself off the wall as a man in a trench coat suddenly appeared and grabbed Prentiss by the back of the head.

She arched against Dean, head turned towards the ceiling as a light shot from her eyes, ears, and mouth, a scream piercing the small room before the light faded and Emily Prentiss collapsed against Dean.

Gibbs felt the pressure holding him give at once and he fell forward, catching himself on hands and knees as he gasped in a breath, looking up to Dean and this new addition to the room in absolute shock.

"Seriously?" Dean hacked out in anger towards his savoir. "Cas," Dean was moving his right forefinger back and forth between the two of them as if to further make whatever point he was working on. "We need to work on our communication!"

"I came as soon as I could; Rafael had joined with Nam as well." Cas explained as the cuffs suddenly came undone on their own. "Crowley is on our side."

"Do they realize we're not on Kabiel's side?" Dean as he rubbed his wrist carefully.

"It doesn't matter now," Cas sighed as he looked to Gibbs with a cock of his head in confusion. He started to reach for him to give him that special sleepy touch, everyone still ignoring the group trying to get in outside the door when all at once Gibbs fell sideways, overcome with a pain that judging from the way he grabbed his head was some sort of head trauma or instant migraine.

Dean had seen this, nay felt this before; he could almost feel it now just watching Gibbs. Gibbs caught the recognition just before his vision twitched to somewhere – not here.

Gibbs was still on his hands and knees, head now feeling as though it was about to explode as he looked through someone else's eyes…Tony's eyes. He could almost feel a sync of their minds as he beheld the lush kidnapped conditions…

_**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**_

Tony peered over to his left to the open bathroom door with a grimace as he heard Sam vomiting…again. No one had had quite the reaction to the blood as Sam. Reid had come and gone, Abby, Tony was leery that it would soon be his turn again, but Sam…Sam was the only one hugging the toilet, unable to eat or at least keep anything down.

He felt tiny tendrils of pain erupt in his mind and frowned as he looked back to the television, hoping that the headache wouldn't be long suffering as he caught a headline that finally had his interest.

"The outbreak is spreading at an alarming rate. There are discussions of local schools closing for Flagstaff," Tony sat up, completely berating himself for not thinking of this sooner as he quickly clicked through the channels once more, trying to pin point what their locale was. They had local news…local news…

_**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**_

_**A/N: Okay so I know that this isn't the best update, I would love to know who is still interested in this story and really am sorry I made everyone wait so long.**_

_**Next chapter should be up in about two weeks. I have a huge deadline on the Feb. 1st, but I should get enough of a break to update this then.**_

_**Next Chapter will focus more on those held prisoner and the aftermath of the interrogation.**_


	9. Battle Drums

**Where Angels Fear to Tread**

**Then:** _Interrogations, possessions, and visions, Oh My!_

**Now:**

**Chapter Seven: Battle Drums**

_**Sioux Falls, SD**_

"The Earthquakes are steadily growing stronger with the largest in this quake storm registering 6.3. Structural damage and power outages are being reported in a large swath from Wyoming to South Dakota with nearly half a million people already affected." Deputy Belue turned the small television on his desk down as the locale officers stuck together in the bull pen in a huddle of hushed conversation while trying to feign disinterest in the hoopla that had occurred during the interrogation.

"Call it a night Carl," Sheriff Mills called to the Deputy as she tiredly removed her cap and set it down on the front desk with a sigh. "I'll keep Gaunt and Handover on overnight." Dusk was falling hard and tensions were running high enough for the air to be saturated.

"You sure?" he asked reluctantly. She was already nodding though. Carl sighed and unwound his legs from atop his desk. "I'm a phone call away if anything else goes down." He reminded her.

The officers that remained at the sleepy police station had all lived through the town's zombie infestation that had introduced them all to the supernatural. They also knew Bobby was an ally. Now that demon possession was added to the list of witnessed phenomena the station was turning into quite the staging ground for supernatural training. "I know the number." She nodded as she cast her gaze towards the interrogation rooms and the stunned federal agents trying to wrap their heads around the situation.

They seemed to be taking it well…considering. Then again they were reported to be some of the best in their fields. Still that didn't mean that Bobby or Dean were loose. Jody slid out of her jacket passing Carl as he was shrugging into his and then out the door. "Handover stay on the phones, Gaunt on the front." She called eyes glued on Gibbs, Hotch, and Rossi huddled in a trio of soft talk outside the interrogation room where Dean was situated.

She headed over with purpose in her step, ready to help them through the initial shock that beholding the other side of things seemed to garner. "Gentlemen," She acknowledged them softly as she adjusted her hands in her pockets and took a lean against the right wall next to the interrogation room door, "A word?"

"Of Course," It was Hotch that answered and she flashed a not so showy smile before looking to the floor in contemplation of what exactly to say next. She slowly drew her gaze back upward and met Hotch's eyes. "Anyone need to reviews the tapes?" She was speaking of the interrogation tapes of what had just transpired. "If you didn't get a good look through the interrogation room window then I suggest a yes in response. Gaunt will pull it up for you on the front desk computer." She could see that Hotch and Rossi both needed that confirmation. She motioned them in that direction, sure that their own curiosity and need to know would fuel them further.

Soon she was only left with Gibbs. "It's easier," She smirked sadly, "When it happens to you instead of around you."

"Easier?" Gibbs asked lowly.

"To accept it." She replied evenly.

Silence reigned between them as Gibbs pursed his lips, trying to think of how to describe what he needed to.

"Sometimes there aren't words." She voiced for him. "You knew this case was different, deep down, things weren't making sense. It happened to me a lot before I knew the truth…what with Bobby being a local and bringing work home with him some." She explained. "I never knew the truth then, just that something wasn't right."

"Sheriff I understand what you're trying to…" Gibbs started but she gave a huff and a shake of her head that silenced him.

"You don't…you really don't. There is more that those two men in there understand about what just happened than you and I couldn't begin to imagine. You can leave them locked up as suspects or you can let them help you." Jody replied at a heated whisper, "Or God forbid help them."

"It's obvious that you have a history with Bobby and Dean, but we need answers to bring our people home." He told her softly and to the point.

"Then you need Bobby and Dean." Jody looked him straight in the eye unflinchingly, "And they aren't your enemy."

The conversation fell silent as another tremor shook the police station. It was the third since the interrogations had begun. They were small, probably radiating out from the places that the news was talking about. They both shrugged it off for the moment as there was way more on their minds than a few tremors.

"They're missing someone they care about too and you might remember they talked about a way to get him back." She pointed out softly, gently, almost motherly. "You might try indulging them…"

Bobby let out a long weary sigh as she leaned back in his interrogation room chair, hand still handcuffed to the table. While Dean had been answering Gibb's questions he'd been fielding some others with Agent Rossi. He knew that all hell had broken loose he just wasn't sure how and while Bobby wanted out of here, these guys were pretty good at keeping the subject in place.

He leaned forward, the front legs of his chair hitting the floor as the interrogation room door opened and revealed Gibbs and Jody. "Can we get this off yet?" he asked holding his hand up as reference to the cuff.

"Soon," Gibbs nodded, ringing his hands as he sank into the seat across from Bobby while Jody stayed on her feet near the door. "How can you help me find my people?" He asked simply.

Bobby swallowed tightly as he looked between Mills and Gibbs, wondering what the entire shit storm was about in the room next door. Bobby kept his voice even as he waited for the other shoe to drop, "I have a way to find our friend. If he's with your friends then I can help you find them." He offered.

"Do it." Gibbs nodded, sending his phone sliding across the table to Bobby as If that was all he needed to make it happen.

Bobby looked down at the phone then back to Gibbs sinking into his seat in disappointment. "That's not going to help."

"What will?" Gibbs asked him shortly maintaining eye contact.

"I had a list at the house, most everything was collected. All I have to do is get back there and perform the spell, Dean too." He explained.

"Spell?" Gibbs scoffed, turning his head to the side with that slowly dwindling smile.

"Sir, I can tell you are fairly intuitive." Bobby nodded. "And something profound just happened to you."

"I saw an FBI agent attack our witness and threaten to kill him, before a trench coated man appeared and banished something from her. I then had a vision about my senior field agent watching a television program about an outbreak – so yeah I'd say something profound just happened to me." Gibbs replied a little less cordially, his voice rising in disbelief and anger that he couldn't seem to contain this travesty.

"Everyone who gets introduced into this life has a life altering experience." Bobby nodded without shock at his revelation. "My wife became possessed…and I killed her without understanding. Dean, his mother died and his father had to find answers, when he found them, he raised those kids to fight the evil he'd found in the world, the stuff hidden from social norms and everyday life." Bobby explained quickly. "Now we can go over everything that we do and don't believe or I can help you find your people." Bobby offered.

Gibbs didn't even bat an eye lash after Bobby's spiel as he nodded to Mills to turn Bobby loose.

"Let's find our people." Gibbs nodded to Bobby.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Morgan shifted where he stood against the back wall of the women's restroom carefully watching Prentiss as she splashed water on her face, again and again, as if somehow, someway she could wash away what had just happened. Morgan didn't even know what to think – hell he was still trying to process it in a way.

He'd been there watching, there trying to break the door in, he'd helped to bust into the room and there she was, freshly having threatened their suspect now passed out still straddling the guy. Gibbs was in the floor and nearly seizing and there was this whole new guy there.

Impossible there.

As if that wasn't enough, Morgan had watched the playback, he'd watched the interrogation tapes at least six times with McGee and Ziva while they were waiting on Emily to wake. By the time she did wake she was shivering in shock, still somewhat numb, traumatized.

Morgan pushed off the wall as Emily caught herself on the sink breaking down with a choked sob. She was in his arms in a heartbeat. "I gotcha, Baby," He whispered as she turned into his embrace and buried her face against his chest. He had been so hardened, so against the very idea that possession was real and in one fell swoop all his doubt had been swept away.

Morgan closed his eyes as he felt her shudder against him, cursing that Prentiss was the one that had to pay the price for his new found faith. It seemed an eternity before her sobs quieted and she rested against him, so tired. He could feel it, feel her legs giving, her strength played out and so he held her even tighter.

"I couldn't stop myself," Prentiss whispered, voice shell shocked too played out to harbor the devastation.

"I know," Morgan didn't know, couldn't begin to imagine, but this was a conversation meant for after she had gotten some rest. He felt her stiffen and pull back, craning her head to look up at him. He could almost hear the silent, 'no you don't.'

He licked at his lips and swallowed the knot in his throat. "Alright, I don't, but we can talk about this after you get some sleep, you need to recoup, you're barely on your feet, Baby." He met her eyes imploring her to take him up on it. She shook her head immediately and pulled out of his arms leaving Morgan frowning after her.

"I can't sleep right now," she was still shaking her head – slower, but still. "You didn't, you…" Prentiss fought another wave of tears, back of her hand steadying against her nose before she could on. "You didn't hear what it was thinking, feel that thing inside you. It wanted to rip Dean's heart out and…" She almost gagged. "Eat it…"

"That wasn't you," Morgan pointed out, still not believing that he was actually using demonic possession as a feasible excuse for her actions. He was just hoping that she hadn't connected the other disturbing dots. How many people they might have put away that were merely temporary harbingers of evil.

"I know, but how many of the monsters have we gone after that haven't been themselves? What if…" She broke off. She'd already made the connection.

"This is not the time to play the what if game," Morgan cautioned her. "We move forward knowing what we do; we cannot go back and change what's happened."

"Reid's still out there." Prentiss had to remind herself.

"That's right and we're going to find him and the other agents and Dean's brother…" Morgan promised her.

Prentiss nodded slowly taking solace in that one promise…

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Timothy Mcgee arched an eyebrow as Castiel popped back in tossing a plastic Walmart sack of spell components onto the interrogation table that Dean was formerly cuffed to. "I do not have any more time for these errands," Castiel warned.

"Is that everything?" Dean asked him quickly, despite the small exhale of annoyance from Cas.

"That's everything on the list as well as the spell." Castiel replied evenly. "I'm sending one of my soldiers to stay with you, but I have to get back to the battle over the smoldering park."

It was Dean's turn to frown as McGee pushed off the wall in confusion. "Yellowstone?" McGee spoke up worriedly.

"I know not its name, but it is west of here, Nam has captured one of my generals and is threatening to execute him in order to cause a vast eruption that may cause many casualties. We are struggling to understand her motivations other than total Earthen destruction."

"Sounds like it's time to get your hands on an enemy soldier," Dean sighed with a shake of his head.

"Wait an eruption at Yellowstone?" McGee was even more alarmed.

"I explained that I do not know that name…" Castiel replied.

"It's west of here," Mcgee replied in a tizzy.

"Then it's possible that that is the place to which I was referring." Castiel's monotone wasn't in the least comforting.

"What's the problem," Dean asked now getting a little more worried himself.

"The whole place has a large caldera that's supposed to be the opening to a super volcano. The event in question after an eruption would devastate two thirds of the US." McGee explained in horror.

"That's sounds like an event that is likely should I be unable to stop the execution," Cas nodded.

"Seriously," Dean rose to his feet in horror. "And you weren't going to explain that…"

"You are directly out of the range of any immediate danger," Cas replied. "I must go." And he did. Dean and McGee were left there gapping after him as Cas suddenly disappeared.

"God, Abby…" McGee whispered as he looked to the spell components on the table. He was going out of his mind in worry as to how she was, God if she was even still alive, and with news that a major event might devastate the US McGee was going insane. He needed to…needed to…He had to call Sarah, talk to his parents…but first…McGee looked up to meet Dean's eyes. "Can you find them?" He asked him worriedly.

"He can," Gibbs answered as he opened the door and led Bobby and Sherriff Mills into the interrogation room. "Is this everything we need?"

"I believe so, but Boss we have another problem." McGee frowned. "Yellowstone could explode in the worst volcanic event since…um sine the last time it exploded thousands of years ago." McGee explained at a speedy prattle.

"Is this an imminent threat?" Gibbs asked looking between Dean and McGee expecting an answer pronto.

Dean finally shrugged, "Cas said we weren't in immediate danger."

"Then let's find our people," Gibbs ordered. Dean shot Bobby a glance as if to ask who put him in charge and Bobby simply gave a shrug.

"Right," Dean nodded and turned back to the table and the items they needed to find Sammy.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

**Arizona**

"The local news puts us within 50 square miles of Phoenix," Tony explained excitedly in the background.

"Phoenix, Arizona or did you mean to imply that we're in the vicinity of Phoenix, Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland…" Reid shifted up on his elbows where he lay on his back on the dining room table next to Abby. "Just judging from the stars overhead I would have to say either Arizona or Colorado."

"Yes, Arizona," Tony had never wished to have McGee around as much as now. "The capitol of Arizona," He added as if that was some sort of jab to Reid. He would trade this geek in for his in a heartbeat, save the whole kidnapping imminent death thing.

"And this is going to help us…how?" Abby didn't move from where she was lying, starring up the night sky and the taunting red hued moon that mocked them from above. She and Reid were star gazing in an effort to take their minds off the startling new ability that they had all contracted.

An ability that had Tony giving his best fear filled whisper of 'I see dead people,' while hugging his blanket around his chin in bed. They all now saw dead people or dead creatures as it were considering there was no real way that some of this bipedal creatures were actually human once…right? Abby was having a hard time making herself believe and she really wished that she could back to pretending that they weren't all over the room, in corners, in the bathroom, in the shower. Did they have no decency? She'd found one of them under her bed last night! Could they be more cliché?

Sam suddenly grumbled from where he sat, his head resting on the table forehead down. Abby had wound her fingers into his hair too tightly in anger before she realized it. She had been massaging his head, trying to ease his misery. "Sorry," She whispered to him gently.

"S'okay," Sam murmured the wood grain muffling his voice as Reid lowered himself back to the table to take his view back to the skylight so he could forget about all the ghosts meandering about the room.

"It will help," Tony assured her though in reality he wasn't sure how. It was obvious that they were entirely out of their depth here, that even if they could contact any of their friends or family that they would soon only manage to endanger them. Still one show of strength and a few deaths later didn't deter Tony from trying to find a way out. "You're wearing the red shirt," Tony pointed out as this was the first time he'd noticed that Abby had changed into her own designated clothing.

"Yeah, it matches the moon," Abby nodded absently.

Tony wasn't dealing with this well either but he was worried that Abby was still in shock. Reid was still trying to analyzing everything and Sam was all sorts of looking at deaths door. Abby was trying to cope and Tony was grasping at straws to deal with the problems at hand.

He would have said something about her no longer fearing dying but that wasn't the case…they had all died once…and Tony knew it wouldn't be long before he did again if what this Kabaiel guy said was gospel truth and he intended to kill them over and over again.

"I'm not at death's door," Sam sighed in exasperation as he slowly, painfully, untangled himself with a thankful nod in Abby's direction rising to his feet with a wince.

"No one said that you were," Reid frowned.

"Tony did," Sam argued as he trudged towards the bathroom, "And honestly I've seen people cope a hell of lot less than Reid and Abby are," Sam called over his shoulder to Tony who had paled.

Sam paused, shooing a spirit out of the way instead of walking through him or her as he walked into the bathroom and leaned tiredly on the sink, chancing a glance in the mirror. He looked a mess. He was pale with dark circles and clammy skin, a host of hunkered muscles showcasing the pain he was in. He grabbed a hold of the sink with both hands as he fought to catch his breath, his head aching worse than it had been.

Sam peered into the mirror, meeting his own eyes as his vision began to swim, reminders of past visions entertaining his mind in waves of nausea and horror as he began to broadcast instead of receive. It was when he felt his mind connect with Dean's that he looked back into the mirror, panting heavily.

"We're near Phoenix, Arizona." He told himself, hoping that Dean would hear him. "Tony and Abby from NCIS and Reid from FBI, everyone is alright for now, but we're having side effects from being forced to take Kabaiel's blood." Sam hissed in a breath and looked down as he flexed his hands fighting the urge to dry heave again.

"Visions, seeing the dead, I think I'm hearing thoughts now," Sam confided not sure Dean was picking it all up or not. "Kabaiel is powerful, more powerful than anything else I've ever seen, including Lucifer." Sam told himself in the mirror, speaking to Dean, praying that his brother heard him. He felt the connection slip and breathed out hard, turning back towards the group that was now watching him even more closely. "I think it's time we have a real talk about everything."

"What was that?" Tony asked Sam quickly.

"A vision," Sam sighed. "I sent one to my brother." He explained. "It wasn't voluntary; I just felt it coming on. It's all headache and stomach convulsions."

"I think that happened to me earlier," Tony licked at his lips.

"Vision?" Abby whispered in wonder and horror as she sat up and perched her arms against her knees, looking between Tony and Sam, now wondering if she was about to start involuntarily sending visions and if so then to who?

"It's a side effect to the blood- like being able to see spirits." Sam quickly frowned as he motioned to Tony. "We're all reacting at different times, so I'd say that the blood takes different times to affect each of us. Truth is we might not all have the same abilities."

"You sound like you've encountered something like this before," Reid piped in as he too sat up.

"Yeah, it was demon blood, but yeah. The people that took it had the capacity for the same abilities but alone they developed strength for one ability." Sam nodded.

"I think I'm reading thoughts now… It sort of comes and goes." Sam confided.

Sam shook his head a moment later and met Tony's eyes. "This is not some freaky version of 'Tales from the Crypt' or 'What Women Want,' I don't want to be in your head any more than you want me in it, it's residual, I can't control it."

Sam shifted his gaze to meet Abby's eyes. "Yes, that means I can hear your thoughts…" He blushed and looked away as she clasped a hand over her mouth. "Yeah everything you don't want to think is going to flood to your minds…"

Reid's eyes widened in horror as he suddenly pulled himself from the table and began pacing, Sam wincing under weight of his flood of thoughts.

"Hey…whoa…hey…Reid…" Sam floundered trying to distinguish between spoken voice and thoughts as he realized that Reid was worried that having an eidetic memory was now going to pertain to other's thoughts as well. "Calm down, man, we need to learn how to control these abilities and use them to our advantage."

Tony met his eyes. "You were hooked on demon blood," he narrowed his eyes as Sam's concern over everyone finding out his darker secrets never quite left the hunter's thoughts after Abby thought whatever embarrassing tid-bit she had that Sam had intercepted.

Sam licked at his lips nervously, realizing that there was no way he could hide anything if Tony was in his head and looked to the floor before he exhaled sharply and met Tony's eyes once more. "Yeah," Sam nodded. "I was hooked on Demon blood, I was groomed to release Lucifer and kick start Armageddon."

There was nothing quite like full disclosure. Better to get it out now then to let them all accidently find it on their own. "Which I did. Later, through a whole lot of effort, I was able to confine him again but was more or less trapped in hell with him for over a year before my brother was able to restore my soul. I'd like to ask that if at all possible everyone tries not to poke too hard in my head…There's a wall up that is currently separating me from my memory of hell, so I can function."

Silence followed in resounding echoing waves as everyone stared at Sam dumbfounded.

He pushed off the doorframe and headed back towards the table. "It's a long story…"

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**A/N**_**:**__ I just wanted to say that the reviews that I got for the last chapter were very encouraging and uplifting. Thank you guys from the bottom of my heart :)_

**Thank you for the show of support, life is still nuts, but things are a little better. **

**BetahimeTsukiko: thanks for the offer to beta – I did feel a little bad for putting Prentiss through that :) A little… :P **

**I do love Castiel's timing too :P **

**Sorry so many had to reread – lol I did to - to even get ready to start updating. **

**smush68: I'm glad you enjoyed the video and I don't plan to abandon this story but if something comes up I'll make sure I get back to it :) and if not then I'll send you my summary for how I plan to end it :P **

**Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing! I would love to know what you guys think about this chapter. **

**Next Chapter:**

_Another NCIS team member is missing. The nation is in a panic, and the NCIS, FBI, and SN folks get a few tips on where to look for their missing. The kidnapped also realize they have an even more impressive ability one that Kabaiel plans to put to good use. Lots more action and moving the story along… _


	10. Blind Horizon

**Where Angels Fear to Tread**

**Warning: **_**This chapter contains some disturbing themes and scenes. Or at least I think they are disturbing, feel free to disagree :P **_

**Then:** _The NCIS, SN crew, and the BAU are all on the same page more or less as far as casting a spell that should locate their missing team members. Cas gets words that Nam is threatening to kill one of his generals and cast ruin on the US and the kidnapped folks have found that they can see dead people and hear each other's thoughts._

**Now: **

**Chapter Eight: Blind Horizon**

Reid hit his knees just inside the lavish cell. He was able to maintain his upright status for a fraction of a second before Sam rushed from the table and hit his own knees – barely catching him before he nearly hit the floor face first. "I gotcha," Sam told him gently as he shifted the lanky agents weight and hoisted him over his shoulder.

Reid only wished he could pass out. He closed his eyes as his head bobbed against Sam's back before he was shifted again and then settled onto his prison bed not so gently on his back. Reid winced as fire danced through his body in pursuit of the blood that had been transfused into his veins. "What happened?" Sam sank to a crouch by his bed, sympathy evident in every clenched muscle of his jaw.

Reid could see why it was easy for Sam to get people to open up to him. It was as if in one look you could see that this man knew the type of heartache that you were going through. A sense of kindred permeated his whole being, Reid could only imagine that he could make near anyone feel at ease. "Blood transfusion, two units." Reid's normal intellectual speak was whittled down to the heart of the matter as passing words through his lips only furthered his desire to throw up.

Sam furrowed his brow. "They took Tony and Abby too," He told him softly, confusion dotting his features as Reid tried to focus. Something wasn't right. Reid wished he could forget the molten fire in his veins the whole agony of the transfusion, an agony that was ongoing, ceaseless. Present tribulation wouldn't allow him to forget every scream worthy moment of the last twenty four hours.

Reid hitched in a breath and slowly pulled himself up to a sit with Sam's help. "They should have been back by now but something isn't right. It's like he's in a rush." Sam told him as Reid had to catch his breath. Reid nodded slowly. He agreed.

Kabaiel had already infused Sam again as well and the two week time frame that this should have taken was looking like it was to be completed in record time, save one fault. The deaths that Kabaiel had promised them was lacking, not that Reid was complaining about that, but something was off. "Why is he rushing?" Reid rasped out. "What's he afraid of?"

"I don't know yet," Sam confided as he nodded towards the television in Tony's alcove. "But I have an idea…" Sam pushed off the bed and headed towards the TV quickly turning up the volume that he'd had near muted.

Reid adjusted his glance to take in the TV as the sound of the news cast assaulted his ears.

"What you're seeing now is an aerial that was taken an hour ago." Reid swallowed tightly was he watched a stunning explosion rock the horizon before black ash blinded the camera. The sound was muted, probably for good reason as he realized that they were looking at a volcanic explosion that the helicopter was most likely entirely too close to. Reid's frown deepened as he took in the caption under the video. 'Yellowstone National Park Erupts.' "We are waiting for news to come in about the surrounding area but experts are already weighing in. The explosion is estimated to have encompassed the entire Yellowstone caldera. The ash cloud seems to be moving primary Southeast at about 120 miles an hour and the amount of ash currently being ejected into the atmosphere is still anyone's guess. As soon as we have more information we will get it to you…" the anchor promised.

Reid stared at the screen in absolute horror. The death toll would be tremendous. This was a catastrophe unlike anything the US had ever seen. The eruption was a global impactor, something that could change everything. This couldn't be a coincident…could it? "Kabaiel enslaves spirits…" Reid pushed himself to his feet with a wince and much effort and took a teetering step towards the books scattered all over the central table.

Sam headed over eyeing him cautiously as though waiting for him to falter at any moment. "Yeah, hundreds of thousands," Sam replied evenly.

"He's a protector of the Earth," Reid sank into his seat quickly looking through the ancient books from the shelves in his alcove that Sam had pulled out and was already going through. "Linden Boatwright's study of ancient text led him to believe that the being Kabaiel was associated with the Egyptian god Aker." Reid quickly began to flip through the pages of one of the books. "He stated that Aker persuaded the denizens headed to the underworld into his fold…so maybe he doesn't enslave them all? But the more dead the more he could enlist…right?" Reid reasoned out. He was still missing something…something so very important.

Sam thought on it a moment. "You think he's using natural disasters to build up his ranks?"

"It stands to reason. There are multiple ways to recruit," Reid wrinkled his nose and closed his mind to try and chase away another dizzy spell that threatened to overtake him.

"Why would he need to build…" Sam broke off with a frown before he finished in a tension filled whisper, "An army."

Reid froze, looking up to meet his eyes. "There's another army opposing his." Logic 101 was taking over, "Whose?"

"Nammu's," The TV suddenly flickered to snow but the voice that answered them came through the speakers.

Reid noticed the recognition in Sam's eyes immediately. "Who is that?"

"Castiel," Sam whispered as he moved a few steps toward the television. "Cas?"

"Nammu rivals Kabaiel. She wishes to destroy the earth and take it for her own, while Kabaiel claims to wish to protect it and its habitants." Castiel explained in voice only. "I cannot penetrate the defenses that Kabaiel has set up, but I have found this open channel to communicate. Dean and the others have your location. They are on their way to you. Dean wished me to relay the message and that he got your vision and that he…" there as an uncomfortable pause, "…is on his way to save your ass again."

Reid was still trying to wrap his brain around it all as everything settled on him while he was trying to put all the information where it could be analyzed and used to make sense of all of this. Nammu…the other army, two global armies – they had to be matched…both collecting spirits. Forcibly or recruiting…to recruit they would need huge influxes of dead and to force they would have to kill…

Reid's mouth fell open at once as he began to piece it together – slowly but surely. "Kabaiel didn't cause the eruption. He's frantic and reorganizing because Nammu is trying to rapidly build her army with devastated and addled ghosts from worldwide catastrophes."

"You're observation is very sound," Castiel's voice replied as Sam pondered the implications.

"Yeah but what is Kabaiel doing with us then? Why all the blood?" Sam asked quickly.

"He needs help in taking on Nammu's army – he needs others that control spirits." Castiel replied immediately as though he already had some privileged info that they could have used ages ago.

"Control spirits…" Reid heard the tremor in Sam's voice and saw his whole demeanor change. He looked like someone had kicked him in the gut. "Like I could control demons?" Sam had an edge of anger when next he found his voice, but there was no reply from the television that quickly shifted from snow back to the regularly scheduled programming.

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"…_I had to detox my brother twice and it nearly killed him, so no, I'm not liking the odds that this ancient blowhard's blood is somehow going to be a benefit to Sam and the others." _

McGee's eyes were shut tight, hand clenched into a fist where he half leaned back on the small counter in the air toilet; head reclined back against the mirror as he struggled to keep his composure. He could still hear Dean's rant about the vision he'd received just after the spell had seared the location of their loved one's into the brains of those that were in the room.

Abby was being forced to take some animal's blood and God only knew what it was doing to her and Tony. McGee had been forcing himself to be professional in the face of what seemed like impossible circumstances. He needed this moment, needed more than this; he needed to see her, needed to know that she was going to be alright. He needed…he needed…a trio of tears slipped from his eyes as he leaned forward hissing in a breath.

He needed more to go on.

"_In my limited experience, blood is a means to give normal human's supernatural abilities, but demon blood has a withdrawal effect when a person goes without it for a long while. We don't even know if this guy is an angel or a demon or something altogether different. Not to mention that even if he was an angel, we don't know how that might affect people." _

Dean had been anything but optimistic. At the very least they were alive. McGee could take solace in that but it was a limited sort of relief. They knew where they were, that should have perked him up even more but…

"_This is a creature that we have no idea how to defeat. He's killed at least a dozen angels. No matter how we go into this, it's going to get messy…as in people could die messy." _

Abby was strong, smart, if she could just tell him something useful, like Tony had been able to do with Gibbs and Sam had been able to do with Dean…maybe she noticed something that the others hadn't. If she could just tell him, find some way…

McGee jumped when a sudden pounding on the bathroom door had him frantically wiping the tears from his cheek. "I'm coming out," he promised whoever needed the bathroom.

He gave himself a cursory inspection in the mirror then quickly opened the door revealing Agent Hotchner. They skirted around each other in the small space and McGee straightened before heading back to his seat in the BAU's jet.

"How fast is it moving?" Morgan asked someone on his phone as he peered out the window in alarm.

McGee frowned.

"I can't coordinate with MTAC until I'm on the ground," Gibbs rushed past McGee headed towards a seat towards the tail also giving glance after glance at the windows as he passed.

"We're over Denver, JJ…What's the news saying?" Rossi got out tersely.

"This is why I don't fly!" Dean look three shades of white as he and Bobby were buckling in at record speeds. "This is the third flight I've been on and can you tell me how many of those three flights went off without a hitch?" 

"Just the one so far as I know," Bobby chuckled watching Dean have a nervous meltdown. "How the hell did you make it on an overseas flight?" he asked him in wonder.

"Alcohol, lots of alcohol."

McGee passed them and grabbed a seat back just about to sit down next to not so Ziva, when Castiel suddenly popped into the plane about two inches in front of him. McGee and Castiel both froze so close that their breath mingled before McGee took a step back.

"Did you talk to Sam?" Dean asked quickly as McGee skirted around Castiel and sank into the seat beside…Ziva.

"I was able to relay your message, the perimeter is very secure. I'm not sure how to breach it yet." He explained before looking to Ziva expectantly. "You should stay on it, see if you can find a way in," He ordered her.

McGee was never going to get used to the fact that Ziva had invited an angel to inhabit her. They had been back at the station when it happened. Apparently Castiel's inside angel wanted to be part of their group – Ziva was asked and after she realized that she could be of more help this way she'd said yes.

Gibbs liked it even less than McGee but there was the promise that she would get her body back when this was all over. McGee frowned as Ziva gave a respectful nod to Castiel and then disappeared.

Yeah…this wasn't weird at all.

"Everyone buckle in…" Prentiss darted out of the cockpit slamming the door behind her as she scrambled to get into her own seat. "We're about to hit the ash cloud. The pilot isn't sure the engines won't get choked."

And that was the last kicker of the day…

Fifteen minutes after they had taken off for Phoenix, Yellowstone went up. The whole world had changed in the span of five seconds.

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"This is just a simple experiment. We don't have much time, but I need to know that it's working, you understand."

"No, no I don't understand…" Tony didn't understand this at all, first this guy was going to enslave them and now he was pumping them up with his blood so fast that their heads were spinning and now…now…

Tony yanked against the bonds that bound him to a solid metal chair bolted to the concrete floor in the middle of a seemingly empty, barely lit room. Abby was unconscious on the floor in front of him, unbound but looking about helpless as one could in the middle of the chilled room.

"You will," was the only reply that Kabaiel gave him, before he disappeared.

Tony cursed under his breath as he fought the binds even harder now that his stellar intuition was screaming that something was horribly wrong. "Abby…" Tony called out as his breath came out in a puff, signaling the ghost/s in the room even though he had yet to see one. "Come on, Abby…wake up!"

He felt like hell, on the cusp of yet another supernatural blood transfusion, and yet here he was…Tony's wrists were rubbing so raw he felt blood seeping around the binds as he fought to get free to stop whatever was about to happen from happening.

A shadow flittered down from the darkness that surrounded the metallic ceiling as a figure from the Victorian era - a sixteen year old with waist length black hair and a slip of a night gown on - materialized a few feet away from Abby. She was bare footed and looking sickly pale with blood soaked hands and smeared maroon spattered down the front of her night gown and feet.

A glint of the metal had Tony's furrowing his brow before he realized that she was holding a knife in her left hand.

"Holy…" Sam had explained that ghosts that were powerful enough could hurt the living. "Abby!" Tony could feel the chair rock slightly as he fought as hard as he could to get free, to find some way to get this evil entity away from her.

She hadn't even stirred yet but he'd seen the even rise and fall of her chest letting him know that she was at least alive.

Life had taught him so many things and what life had failed to teach him, Gibbs made up for, but neither life nor Gibbs prepared him to save someone he considered a sister from a "Ring" wannabe ghost with a 19th century pocket knife.

The corporeal challenged chick crouched down beside Abby, lovingly and playfully stroking the blade of the knife against her hair, "Abby, wake up!" Tony breathed out still fighting with every ounce of his strength to get out of the chair. "Abby!"

Abby murmured something in her sleep as she shifted slightly, "That's it Abs!"

Other shadows grabbed Tony's attention as Abby settled back to sleep while the creepy knife wielding ghost continued to tease Abby's skin with the knife in her hand. Tony noticed several ghosts coming into view from the darkness all looking like differing shades of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. "Abby…" Tony whispered out as Ring girl thinly sliced Abby's upper arm, spilling a thin trickle of blood. God why wasn't she waking up?

"No…" Tony watched as the teen licked the blood from the knife, turning to look him in the eye with a crimson smile before she went back to toying with his friend, moving on to her wrist.

"No!" His voice rose matching the desperation in his stampeding heart. "Leave her alone." He whispered out frantically, still fighting his bonds. She paused for a moment as did all the ghosts, but just for a moment. A single solid moment before…

The ghost sliced the blade deeply into Abby's wrist and Abby finally woke, coming off the floor with a pain laced scream as she sat bolt upright and looked around In horror, blood gushing from her injured wrist. "Oh my god…" she quickly tried to stymie the flow with her not so sliced up hand, but the blood welled up through her fingers.

Ring girl disappeared for a moment as did the background ghosts but Tony could still feel them. "Abby, put pressure on it," Tony told her quickly as he was still fighting a losing battle with his binds. She was already doing it when he saw the flicker of Ring girl come back into focus and she made a mad slice against Abby's back, garnering another scream from Abby.

"Stop it!" Tony screamed out as the girl sliced again in the opposite direction, eliciting yet another blood curtler from his friend. "I said stop!" Tony growled out and strangely he felt the energy burst from him like an animal breaking free from a cage that it had been battling with for months. Ring girl's head snapped up in shock, ghostly mouth falling open in a silent scream before her shadowy assed form was thrown backwards and she dissipated.

The other shadows began to advance but Tony had had enough. Abby was now lying on her side bleeding out on the floor writhing in agony. "Get out!" He growled out to them and like the ghostly girl before them they were thrown backwards disappearing into thin air. The air was finally warming with the lack of ghosts as the binds slipped from Tony's wrists and ankles and he floundered from the chair, sliding on his knees in a mad dash for Abby.

Tony gathered her in his arms as she sobbed in pain from the multiple gashes that were bleeding out faster than he could stop them…Damnit…Damnit….this was not happening, not like this. "Hold on Abs," he whispered. "Did you make your point?" He screamed out to Kabaiel.

"No, you did, thank you," Kabaiel replied evenly as he walked out of the shadows. "They obeyed when you were motivated enough."

"What?" Tony asked in horror not sure what Kabaiel was going on about. God and he didn't care. "Fix her!" he pleaded with him, knowing full well that the whatever the hell he was could heal.

"No…"

"What?" Tony couldn't believe this. Was he trying to kill her again? What was the point to all of this? The spirits had obeyed him – yay – what the hell ever…why wasn't he healing her. He'd passed the test – right?

"You can do it." Kabaiel explained finally.

Tony looked up at him in shock and disbelief as Abby's thoughts cut him to the quick just as badly as the pained look on her face, the tremors that her muscle were making from the blood and the wounds. What did he mean that he could do it? He could see ghosts could sometimes hear thoughts and now maybe, just maybe tell ghosts what to do, but now Kabaiel wanted him to heal Abby?

Tony didn't even know where to start. "I don't know how…"

"Then perhaps one of the others will know."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

A smoky haze fed the molten fires of the wreckage as the woodlands Southwest of Denver came in and out of focus. Sound was muffled to near muted levels, and what he could hear was drizzled in blood. Bobby Singer held tightly to his left side, blood trickling through his right fingers as he stumbled through the wreckage of the BAU's jet.

The engines had indeed chocked on the billowing ash from the new Mount Yellowstone.

"Dean!"

His own voice sounded far and away as he browsed the jagged metal and scattered remains for Dean and the other occupants of the plane. "Dean!" Bobby called again, not sure he was even alive let alone able to answer him…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

**A/N: 109 reviews, 168 alerts, 68 favorites, I'm so very thankful for each and every one :) **

**BetahimeTsukiko: I'm glad you're excited and I was happy to give Sam some folks to talk to as well. I swear the guys needs it :P**

**BranchSuper: Thank you :)**

**Lestat's Violinist : I would hate to be around a telepath like that as well. Thank you :)**

**Basia Orci: Thank you :)**

**Grumpywinter: Lol such a great idea. I love it so much. I love the portrayal of Death on Supernatural and might have to just take that into consideration when dealing with Rafael. Bad Raf! Bad! :D**

**Silvermoon of Forestclan: Thank you :)**

**Frostfalcon: Thank you :)**

**Illucida: I'm glad that you like the scene with Morgan and Prentiss. I am notorious around the circles I write in for changing chapters repeatedly, and that is exactly what I did with this scene. At first I was trying to bridge the gap between departments by having Ziva comfort Prentiss but in the end I couldn't help but let it be Morgan. I just couldn't shake the fact that he would be there. **

**I always see Gibbs as taking charge no matter what so I just had to have him grab it…thank you so much for your review – it really inspired me and reinforced that I was following my instincts correctly. It means alot :)**

**daisybell101: Thank you :)**

**WhiskeySkye: Thank You :)**

**Sassenach082: I had to go back and read once I started too :P Thank you so much :)**

**akuma-river: Honestly I picked Phoenix at random. I'm bad about that. The flat lands has nothing to do with it- but we can pretend that I'm ingenious and have some huge plan for it :P . I just wanted somewhere semi on the same hemisphere as Sioux falls, **

**sandcrawlr: Thank you :)**

**Veronica: I hope I can keep up as well :) Thank you :)**

**Next Chapter: **_Plane Crash aftermath, crisis with the captives as they try to heal Abby… and more…_


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